It's Magic? Part 1: The Elementalist
by ARandomKid
Summary: An elementalist, destined to become the savior of the universe, must cope with the challenges and responsibility of this new task, suddenly thrust upon him and his two best friends, Zack and Cody, when they were only fourteen.
1. Adventure?

Welcome to Chap. 7. Sorry for not updating this for so long, my other fic has taken up all of my time. I promise I'll update soon for this one. Here's chap. 7. Thanks for reviewing!

**Chap. 7**+

**_IN SUITE 423 _**(A/N: If you don't remember, it's Alex's suite number, look in Chap. 2)

Alex: I got a strange email today. It said something about the adventure of a lifetime.

Cody: Really? Let's go.

Zack: You're acting really weird today Cody.

Cody: How? **his arm jerks continuously**

Zack: Like that.

Cody: oh. **arm jerks again** Will you stop that!

Alex: **laughs** Anyway, I'll show you the email.

_logging in in._

_viewing email #3119876: **Adventure**_

_How would you like to go on the adventure of a lifetime. You will, if you choose to accept by going to the abandoned house on Madison Square at 1:30PM Friday, Oct. 23, meet new people, and discover your ancient past. You may take up to two others with you, and they will discover their past as well._

_Shinobi_

_End email._

_Logging out._

Zack: That's today! So are we going?

Alex: If you and Cody want to. I'm going to find out how I received these powers and what they mean, and also what will happen to me in the future.

Cody: Count me in. How are we going to explain this to our parents?

Zack: Easy. We tell them we're going out for a walk, and that we won't be back for a few months.

Alex: You don't even know how long we are going to be gone!

Zack: Well, I estimate.

Cody: Oh, alright, but let's just tell them we're going to the store to do some shopping.

Alex: Fine by me…

**_-LATER, IN THE ABANDONED HOUSE-_**

Alex: Alright, I have three questions. One, who's Shinobi, two, where are you taking us, and three, how the hell are we going to explain this to our parents?

Mysterious Voice: All will be revealed in time. Your parents and anyone else that knows you will not question your absence from here until this quest is over. Those two will not remember what has happened here or in the future.

Zack: Damn. Okay, first, you called it an adventure in the email. Second, why can't we remember, but he can. It's not fair!

Alex: So, anyway, how do we get started here?

Mysterious Voice: Sleep.

Cody: How will that help?

Mysterious Voice: You will see.

Zack: Well, I'm not tired.

Mysterious Voice: Then you shall wait until you are.

Alex: Well, okay.

**The voice seems to leave, and Zack, Cody, and Alex wait for nightfall to come**

Alex: Don't worry, I'll write it all down in a journal for you. Once you read it, you will most likely trigger the suppressed memories in your mind. Then, you shall remember everything.

Zack: But how do you know that the memories will still be there for us to remember?

Alex: Memories are never gone; they are just suppressed. Even memories of when I was one year old are still in my mind, but I can't remember back that far. They are suppressed, and need the right trigger for them to awaken.

Zack: Well, how do you know that you have written down the correct words that will access this trigger?

Alex: Simple, I'll just write it all down.

Zack: Well, okay.

**Zack, Alex, and Cody all go to sleep on the floor of the abandoned house on Madison Square, and wait for morning to come**

**End of Chap. 7**+

So, how did you like the adventure part of it? Review, and vote if you want me to keep going with this, or stop and continue with their normal lives.


	2. Ansibrue

Well, it looks like I'm continuing with this adventure thing. Hopefully it turns out good. Please review and tell me what you think. In case I haven't mentioned this: thoughts _Italics_, things they do **bold**, New places/settings **BOLD, CAPS**. I hope that clears up a few things.

**+Chap. 8**+

Alex was the first to wake up. He tried to conjure a fire, as he was quite cold. Then he realized that his powers were gone.

Alex: Crap! Now what am I going to do? Might as well wake the twins. **Goes to wake up Zack and Cody**

Alex: WAKE UP!

Zack: Damn, you don't have to yell.

Cody: Yeah, what he said.

Alex: I have some bad news. I don't have my powers.

Zack: And that's bad because?

Alex: Nothing to drink, to eat, or warm us with…

Cody: So we'll do it the old fashioned way. **Grabs two sticks and rubs them together**

Zack: I don't think that's going to-** the sticks suddenly burst into flame** –Whoa. How'd you do that, Cody?

Cody: I'm not sure. The friction I provided for the sticks wasn't nearly enough for them to catch on fire.

Zack: Say what?

Alex: He wasn't rubbing them together long enough, don't you listen in Science?

Cody: Nope. He doesn't listen in any subject. Does anyone know where we are?

Alex: Actually, no, but now that I can actually see something, I know we're not in the abandoned house anymore.

Zack: So where the hell are we?

As they look around, they appear to be in a dark forest, devoid of any light except the light provided from the fire, as it was too cloudy for the moon's light to reach them. Suddenly they hear a noise coming from the depths of the forest. It sounds a little bit like someone rustling in the leaves.

Alex: Get the hell out here, whoever you are.

Out comes a squirrel. However, before it runs away, Cody notices something peculiar about it.

Cody: Did you see that?

Zack: Yeah, Cody, we saw the squirrel.

Cody: No, I mean what it looked like.

Zack: Oh, sure, it was brown, covered in fur, had four legs, one head, two eyes, and one tail…

Cody: No, it had two tails.

Zack: Don't be stupid, Cody, squirrels only have-

The squirrel comes back, and the three can distinctly make out its double tail.

Zack: I don't like that squirrel.

Alex: Mutated squirrel. Let's see if it has green blood. **Alex stabs the squirrel with a stick, however, the stick goes right through the squirrel, and the squirrel seems to not have noticed, as if it were a ghost.**

Cody: Holy crap, ghost squirrel.

Zack: Well, we can't eat it. That sucks.

Suddenly a mysterious voice cuts through the dark, filling the three boys with fear, and sounding exactly like the one they had heard at the abandoned house.

Mysterious Voice: You want to know where the hell you are, why Alex's powers have mysteriously disappeared, and why that squirrel appears to be a ghost.

Zack: How'd you know, you freak.

Mysterious Voice: I was watching. I am always watching, like the moon and the stars, and the sun.

Alex: Cut with the personification, and get to the point.

Mysterious Voice: Fine. **He steps out of the dark cover of the forest. **My name is Hineshu.

Hineshu has a blue jacket on, with a black undershirt showing underneath it. He has three bracelets on his right hand, two on his left. His pants are plainer, with only black shorts on, and a pair of ankle socks, with shoes that have a trail of dark flame embroidered on them. He also has a pair of earrings, one on each ear, with a dark flame decoration as well.

Zack: Hinnashu, eh. That's a weird name.

Hineshu: No, Hin-shoe. That's how you pronounce it, not Hinna-shoe.

Cody: **laughs**

Hineshu: Well, now that we have that settled, I will get to the explaining.

Alex: Finally.

Hineshu: Will you stop interrupting me, for someone who wants an explanation so badly; you sure are delaying it from happening.

Alex: Sorry, you may continue.

Hineshu: Thank you. As I was saying, the powers you have in the other dimension cannot be tapped into in this dimension.

Alex: So you're saying that for each dimension we visit, we have new and different powers.

Hineshu: Yes, exactly, and just like before, you can increase your ability and strength of these powers by using them. The more you use them, the more powerful they become, and the number of things you can do with them increases.

Cody: So what powers did Zack and I have in the real world?

Hineshu: You and Zack had the gift of distraction in the Earth dimension, Cody.

Cody: How'd you know my name?

Hineshu: Like I said, I've been listening.

Alex: So what is my power, err… new… power?

Hineshu: You, Alex, have the gift of wind, and defense. Cody, you have obtained the gift of water and healing. And, you, Zack, have received the gift of fire, and offense. Those gifts and perhaps more are waiting for you to discover them in the Ansibrue dimension. I leave you to explore your powers individually now. Remember, often these gifts have far greater potential then I may have described. **He teleports away**

Zack, Cody, and Alex find themselves separated, and alone. Each had only their newfound power to aid them. Confused, lost, and terribly lonely, each maneuvered through the dark forest, hoping to find some sign of life, or shelter, and then somehow be able to contact the others.

**+End Chap. 8**+

Ooh…cliffy. I think it's my first one, too. We are also getting into the action part of the fic, instead of the normal, boring life that they led in the Earth dimension. So, anyway, how did you like this chapter? Dreamerforever, did I make it detailed enough? I hope I did. See you in the next chapter of _It's Magic?_: **_Discovering New Abilities._**

Pronunciations:

Ansibrue: An-see-brew.

Hineshu: Hin-shoe.


	3. Discovering New Abilities

Hello, welcome to Chap. 9 of _It's Magic?_: **_Discovering New Abilities_**. Thanks to those that reviewed, and I also have one more thing to say before I start the chapter: HAPPY HALLOWEEN! So, enjoy the chapter!

**Chapter 9+**

Zack, Cody, and Alex find themselves separated, and alone. Each had only their newfound power to aid them. Confused, lost, and terribly lonely, each maneuvered through the dark forest, hoping to find some sign of life, or shelter, and then somehow be able to contact the others.

POV: ZACK

I wandered aimlessly through the dark among the trees. I thought I might have heard a faint cry or two, but wrote it off as my imagination, desperate for company. I started to try out his new powers of fire, seeing as I was bored and had nothing else to do.

Now, then, how do I work this thing? Let's see now, FIRE!

I thought with all my might, but no result. Hmm…Let's see, maybe I need to actually say it.

"FIRE!" A great burst of flame shot from my hand. Startled, I fell back and watched as it lit up a patch of moss growing on a rock.

Well, at least I know how to work it now. Might as well see what else I can do. Hmm…what would be awesome? Oh, I got it!

"FLAME WHIP!" A vine appeared in my hands, with one notable difference. It was on fire. Startled, I dropped it, and touched it gingerly. I felt no pain whatsoever. I then examined it to see how it looked. It was just an ordinary plant, with flame trails going down it like ripples in a pond. Sweet! I picked the flaming vine up, and whipped it around once or twice. Now I had a problem.

Okay, how the hell do I make this thing go away?

Then, I found out something else as well. As soon as I thought the words go away, the vine vanished like it was never there to begin with. Then, armed with a stick that had it's tip lit on fire to help penetrate some of this thick inky darkness, I continued onward, hoping, praying to find some form of civilization in this barren world that was most definitely not Earth. What had Hineshu called it again? Something like Andsybro. Oh well, whatever this thing was called, I traveled onward. Suddenly I hear a scream that could only be my brother's. Normally, I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but we were on another world. Anything could happen. I rushed toward the source of the scream, a little lake somewhere to my right.

POV: CODY

I traveled through the black mist of the night on Ansibrue, when I accidently tripped over a root, gouging my wrist into a root that just happened to be sticking up from the ground, and that happened to have a really sharp point. Shouting out something unmentionable, I wondered how the hell I was supposed to heal this. I heard a glistening stream nearby and figured I could at least wash it out there. Making my way slowly over to the stream so as to not hurt myself anymore, I placed one foot in front of the other, treading carefully. Then I fell down a bank of some sort, right into the water. Real smooth, I thought to myself. When I finally got out, I let my hands soak in the cool, clean water. At least, I hoped it was clean, I couldn't see crap. I suddenly noticed a little tiny light that seemed to originate from the place of my injury. It got brighter and brighter, and grew into a blindingly white light so that I couldn't see crap, except for the difference in that the background was white instead of black. When it was over, I could see reasonably well, and examined my cut. It wasn't there. It appeared that the cut had never happened, and that perhaps I was dreaming all of that. But, then I remembered the searing pain that had cut through my arm and spread like wildfire, and knew that it hurt too much to be fake. Figuring that this was my new power that Hineshu had mentioned, I continued onward, hoping to find some method of civilization, and wondering as well what else I could do, as Hineshu had said that each power has tons of potential. Sighing, I looked up, and screamed.

POV: ALEX

I wandered through the mist of darkness, the cold, searing wind blowing in my face, angry with Hineshu, angry with him for separating us, angry that he didn't reveal more. I began to wonder where all of this wind was coming from, and stopped being so angry for a second. The wind ceased, suddenly, too suddenly.

**Flashback**

Hineshu: You, Alex, have the power of wind, and defense….

But, remember that each power you may receive has tons of potential, which you have to figure out for yourselves.

**End Flashback**

Perhaps I had to summon this power by calling to it with the depths of my mind. With my entire mind I began to think: WIND! I did little else, barely even drawing breath. I felt a soft wind on my face; hardly enough to even give me a chill. I wondered how this was going to defend anything when suddenly the wind speed increased, going faster and faster, and it swooped me up, so that I was able to fly! I kept going higher and higher and higher, up, up above the wet, chilling cold droplets that made up Ansibrue's clouds. The wind lessened, and I began to fall as I thought to myself: I want to go down. Then I lowered myself safely onto the ground. Mastering that technique took some work, and suddenly I hear a piercing scream cut through the air. I begin to run toward the sound, if only because I recognize the voice, and the person it belonged to.

Cody.

**At the lake**

POV: CODY

I saw a monster, with two eyes set close together in comparison with the size of the body, and two shoulder mounted "legs" with deadly scythes of white, pure bone. It had a skeleton like bony tail, and looked like it had already been killed, which was the worst of it. It was the most horrible looking creature I had ever seen, and I watched a lot of horror movies at that. It was just about to tear its lethal claws into me, and rip me to shreds when I saw a vine strike the creature, and it howled in pain. I looked closer to see what was covering the vine like whip, and it seemed to be covered in fire, but it did not burn up. The creature and person battled for a little while, when another person swooped down from above, nailing the creature right in the back of its bony head with an apparently sharp and sturdy stick, just below the skull plate, under which the fleshy brain was placed. After the creature was dead, the person who had swooped down from the sky carrying a stick spoke.

**End of Chapter 9**+

Ohh… another cliffy…YAY! I love writing cliffhangers! Are the people really Zack and Alex, or some new characters? You just don't know, do you…? Please review!

-ARK


	4. Kimitsu

This is Chapter 10 of It's Magic: **Kimitsu** Hope you enjoy, and please review! I haven't been getting many. All you people who are browsing the site without an account can review as well; I accept anonymous reviews in this fic! PLEASE REVIEW! Thank you **Dreamerforever101** for reviewing! At least SOMEONE reads this fic! **THANK YOU!**

**Chapter 10+**

"Are you alright, Cody?"

"H..h..how do you know my name?"

"What are you stupid or something, we've been together for quite a while now, I'd say about 5 or 6 months."

"Alex? But, who's that with you?"

"Come on, Cody! You can't even recognize your own twin brother! How'd you end up getting good grades in school?"

"Well, wielding that…thing…you looked kind of… different. Plus it was dark out."

"Dark? Really? I could see plain as day." noted Alex.

"Well, I had to light a stick just to see my way around." replied Zack

"Well," Cody responded, "I couldn't see squat until I accidentally cut myself on a damn tree root, then I stuck my hands in the water and this bright light appeared, and then I could barely see enough to make out that…thing."

"Anyway, we should get out of this forest." Cody noted

"I saw a town that way when I flew here." Alex remarked, pointing to his right. "Perhaps we should go that way. Brace yourselves."

"For what? Oh crap, I'm bracing already! I never know what's going to happen next in this place."

"That's right. Get ready, and try not to freak out."

The wind scoops them up, and carries them in the direction of the town. Cody and Zack spot the lights after about five minutes, and they land about 8 minutes after that. Zack, Alex, and Cody try to find out who's in charge, and maybe get some answer about what the hell they needed to do here. The townspeople were friendly, if a bit odd-looking. They looked like they had no muscles, only skin and bones, and had no mouths. They communicated through telepathy, although they had ears, to hear outsider's questions, comments, and whatever else. Their typical style of dress was a single cloth around their waist, and some had a robe that looked similar to a Greek toga. This may have been to establish some form of rank, or maybe it was just a different style of dress, like teenagers and parents. Hey, human generations dress differently, so why shouldn't these guys.

"We shall take you to meet our ruler, oh great ones."

"Great ones? We haven't even done anything here, and we are already considered great? I love this place!" Zack said.

"Yeah, well it's a tad bit dark." Cody responded.

"Our planet is always dark. Get used to it, Cody."

"HOE THE HELL DOES EVERYONE KNOW OUR NAMES!" Cody shouted.

"We can read minds, duh." the guard told him.

"Oh." Cody said meekly.

"We are here. The ruler wishes to see you right away. Go, he does not like to be kept waiting, even for someone as important as you."

"We're going." Cody says, and the trio starts the long walk to the palace.

_They go up to meet the king. He has somewhat blue skin, instead of pale like the townspeople's skin, and as only dressed in a cloth robe around his waist. He opens his mouth to speak._

"Ah, finally you have come to save our planet, and you shall be well rewarded for this task."

"Wait, what will this reward be?" Alex asked suspiciously, "I don't want to have to fight this big huge monstrous beast thing and not get paid well."

"Ah, the reward will be anything you wish, as long as we have access to it. My name is Yurihagaki, and I am the king of Ansibrue. A powerful demon with the ability to control the darkness has been lurking deep inside Ansibrue's wilderness. It comes once every three months to take a villager as a sacrifice in order to keep this town safe. He shall come again tonight. We ask that you defeat this demon and reclaim our 181 villagers he has taken. Once you do that, we shall give you your reward, whatever it may be."

"181 villagers! How long has he been hanging around!" Zack asked.

"Around-" Yurihagaki began, but Cody interrupted him

"5 years, 3 months, 31 days." Cody informed Zack.

"That's…exactly right. How'd you do that?" Yurihagaki asked after thinking for a while.

"Oh, it's easy, 180 divided by 12 months a year, then divided by 3 months for each time he came is 5 years, then add 3 months for the 1 extra villager, and since he's coming tonight, that's 31 days." Cody responded.

"Damn, he's pretty good at math." Yurihagaki noted.

"Yeah, he gets, or at least used to get good grades." Alex said. "But anyway, how are we going to beat this demon, and what the heck is its name, anyway?"

"We don't even know its name, however we call him **Yokugawchi**, which in our language means 'terrible one'."

"We'll get rid of him for you, but we need to think of a way to get in there with everyone else."

"I think I may have a plan. See, you will offer all 3 of us as a sacrifice to him. Then we get in there, mutilate the demon, and get out with the remaining survivors." Cody suggested

"Well, okay, I just hope you know what you are doing." Yurihagaki noted.

"No, not really," Cody said, "but we'll improvise."

"Very well. You, then, shall be offered up as a sacrifice to keep our village safe for yet another month. This decree goes out from the King of Ansibrue, and cannot be changed."

"We won't need any changing." Alex said.

They go out at exactly 11:12PM to meet the demon and be offered as a sacrifice.

"Move it!" A guard shouted, and poked Cody with a sharp stick, drawing blood.

"Geez, you don't have to be so vicious." Cody remarked

"They're trying to make it look realistic. They probably do this to others because they are so unwilling." Alex noted.

"Fine, at least we're there." Cody responded

The demon came. He was very… well… normal sized. The same height as Alex, with a muscular, ripped body with some scars in various places across his arms. He had a yellow vest type muscle shirt on his chest, and two eyes, brown, with grayish pupils, glazed, like he was possessed. Silver hair, long, came down to his shoulders. He had baggy pants on, with blue shoes. He could have passed for a normal person, and looked like he was possessed somehow, with the glazed eyes. He drew a sword, as long as his arm, that was red, and had two black stripes running down it, one stopping at about one-fourth of the way to the end, and one that went half way to the end of the sword. It had a bluish stripe thing running from beginning to end, and looked sharp, and was on the hitting side, meaning that it was what cut his enemy. Then he spoke, and it seemed to echo, like it was spoken twice. 

"I am here for your sacrifice."

"Yes, they are ready."

"They?"

"We have three this time."

"Oh really? Well, I'll take them, but don't think this has stopped me from visiting you in three months. I'll be waiting."

He raises a hand, and the three felt a dark power forcing them to rise up into the air, and move towards him. They do nothing to fight it. 

"So you accept your fate then? Very well, come."

"Who says we accept this! What if we don't want to come!" Zack shouted

"Ah, but then I would have to force you, and trust me… you don't want that to happen."

"Fine. I'll come, but don't think you're going to eat me or anything!" Zack said

"Oh, don't worry, I won't eat you. You're far too cute to be eaten."

"What's that sup- NO WAY! YOU SICK FREAK! NO WAY IS THAT GOING TO HAPPEN TO ME!"

"Who shall stop it? Come, onward to my lair. There you shall be put into the chambers until I have need of you."

The demon takes them deep into the woods, and into a little shack where he has been staying these past years.

"Here is where you shall sleep. Sleep well. I will be back in the morning."

"Wait! I have one question." Zack said.

"Yes, my love?"

"One, don't CALL ME THAT! And two, what happened to all of the other people?"

"Very well, then I won't call you that. And the others have wandered off, into the woods, and haven't returned. They are most likely dead, eaten by the beasts that roam these woods."

"Well, I won't be running off. Don't worry." Zack noted. (But that doesn't mean I don't plan to escape.)

"That is good. I haven't introduced my self yet, I see. My name is Kimitsu."

The demon leaves.

"When he comes back we will try to escape." Alex said

"What do you mean try? Of course we will escape." Cody said.

"He can't have just sitting around these 5 years. I suspect he has trained a great deal, and his powers are quite substantial. I-"

Suddenly Alex began to flash silver. It started slowly, but got faster and faster, until he was practically a coat of silver. Then he reverted back to his original color.

"I think I just gained a new power." Alex said.

"No fair! Why don't we get any powers!" Cody said.

"You probably will. It may just take longer." Alex noted.

"Fine. But I hope they are cool!" Cody said.

Morning came, and Kimitsu returned to find the three captives asleep.

(Heh. So cute, that one is. He was just like that, before I stole his body, and made it my own. He was willing to fight, and had these awesome dark abilities and a sword to boot. No match for me however, once I possessed him.)

"Come on, wake up little one. Time to get up."

Zack, Cody and Alex wake up at once, and realize where they are. The comfort of the shack was odd; they'd thought they were to sleep on a stone cold and hard as rock floor, with no comfort whatsoever. But no, this demon had supplied them with sleeping mats, and blankets to warm themselves with. He wasn't so bad, when you got past the part where he wanted to rape Zack. They all went outside, and the minute they got out there, Zack spoke in barely a whisper.

"You think that I'm just going to sit around and let you do these… things to me. If so, then you are wrong. I will put up a fight. I will not be taken so easily."

Zack summoned fire around his fists, and got into a fighting stance. Alex summoned a metal spear, and Cody got by a stream. Kimitsu thought about this for a minute.

(Why isn't the other twin doing anything? He acts as if he's too scared to move, but that can't be. I'll find out later.)

"Very well, if it's a fight you want, then that's what you'll get! Bring it on."

The demon flashed with a dark light, and when it was gone the second afterward, he was covered in a spandex suit, with a skirt made of straw covering his waist. He pulled out the sword he'd used to intimidate the village people, and got into a fighting stance, with a dark aura about him.

Ooh, big fight scene coming up! Sorry this took so long to update. Please forgive me, and also please review! Thanks again to **dreamerforever101** for reviewing. Please review, it will encourage me to update! Also, please tell me if I could fix anything, or make it better! The person who guesses correctly who the demon is possessing gets 10 cookies! No, I did not make up the description! The cookies are whatever flavor you want them to be, please specify in your review. If you review at all…

-ARK


	5. Zeta

Sorry I haven't been updating, we had to move and therefore didn't have Internet. Those of you that had a signed review already knew this, as I'd left a review reply thing mentioning it. That new system is pretty useful, we don't need to give out email addresses any more.

Kimitsu: Key mitt sue

Yokugawchi: Yo kue gah Chi

I have also been getting requests to feature the story more on Zack and Cody rather than Alex. This will revolve around all three of them, so Cody and Zack will get focused on as well. This fic will contain crossovers, featuring Legend of Dragoon characters and Kingdom Hearts characters. It will be just the description for the one LoD character that I will use; the KH characters will be the same, this is pretty much the only time KH will even be touched. But Zack, Cody, and Alex will be the main characters of the story. I hope that clears that up. The character that Kimitsu is possessing, which none of you even bothered to try and guess, was Riku from KH. I guess nobody cared. Oh well.

I think that's all. Tell me if I missed anything, or if you have any other questions. I am open to anything you want to tell me. And please review! Just a note: Flames will be read and promptly ignored. Here is chapter 11.

**_I do not own _The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, The Legend of Dragoon, or Kingdom Hearts._ If I did, they'd be a LOT different, trust me._**

**Chap. 11: Zeta**

**POV: Third Person** (A/N: All fights will be in third person POV, mainly because trying to write a fight based on a character's POV is really really really hard.)

Kimitsu charged Alex, sword in hand, and swung at his neck, trying to kill him, but Alex parried with his metal pole and struck back, stabbing Kimitsu in the stomach. Kimitsu groaned, and retaliated, forming a ball of energy that struck Zack across his chest, slicing open his skin, and blood came gushing out. Cody ran over to Zack, and healed him. Alex, meanwhile, had stabbed Kimitsu in the chest.

"You think you have won, but it's not that easy. You have only killed the person whom I've been possessing these last years. I shall return even more powerful than I am now. See you in Zeta."

"What's Zeta?" Zack asked.

"You'll find out…real soon."

Then Kimitsu left his host lying on the ground, to bleed to death, while he headed to Zeta.

"Damn! Zack, can't you heal him?"

"No, I don't think so. I think he's already dead."

"Well, let's head back to the village."

They head back to the village, and everyone rejoiced. When the clamor died down, Yurihagaki spoke to Alex

"Here is part of your reward. This shall let you control all of your powers, in each world. It most likely can be altered to do more, but for now, that is all."

He hands Alex a long stick, shaped like a spear, only it was completely cylindrical, with no blunt edge whatsoever. It had one white stripe on it, and one gray one as well, about 1 inch from the end, about a fourth of an inch of space separated the two stripes.

"Umm…thanks, I think."

"Now, then, what else do you desire?"

"But you already gave me a reward!" Alex stated in surprise.

"Yes, but I also said that your reward was whatever you wanted, did I not?"

"Umm…yeah, I guess."

"Well, then, what do you want?"

"Could you get something for my friends, too? They helped, and it wouldn't be fair if you only gave me something."

"Of course. Check back in the morning. For now, rest, and regain your strength."

"Umm…sure."

They rest, morning comes, and they head back to the palace from the inn, which they used for free because of their heroic deeds.

"The weapons are ready."

"Weapons? SWEET!" Zack whooped.

"This is for Zack. Zack, if you would step forward, I can't really tell you two apart."

"It's okay, we get that a lot." Cody said. Zack stepped forward.

"Okay, now I'm really confused. You're Zack, right?" he asked Zack.

"I stepped forward, didn't I?"

"Well, then, here. This is for you. It's a little dart gun, with a special effect, watch."

Yurihagaki aimed the dart gun at a target dummy, pressed a button, and the gun seemed to shimmer with energy, then a blue laser darted out of the gun, hit the dummy, and the dummy sparked with electricity.

"It's got a paralyzing laser, which you saw demonstrated, the stun darts, and even acts as a laser cutter. Now, Cody, it's your turn to receive your weapon."

"So what do I get?" Cody asked, stepping toward Yurikagaki.

"This."

Yurihagaki held out what looked like a laser pointer.

"A laser pointer?"

"No, it's a lock pick. It can open any lock in under five seconds. It relies on heat. And you also get this."

"Okay, but I still say it looks like a laser pointer."

Yurihagaki gave Cody what seemed to be a pair of contacts.

"My eyes are fine. I don't wear glasses."

"They aren't for improving eyesight. Well, I guess they do, but that's just a side effect. These allow you to see even in total darkness."

"Wow, thanks!" Cody exclaimed, putting them in. "Hey, I can see a little better!"

Yurihagaki also gave Cody a sword with a foot long blade. (A/N: If you can't imagine this, think of a short sword. That should be simple enough to imagine.)

"Thanks for everything, Yurihagaki, we'd better get going." Alex said

"Where are you off to now?"

"I'm not exactly sure, probably Zeta."

"We can get you there."

"Really?" Alex asked

"Yeah, just close your eyes, count to twenty, and then open them again."

"Okay. Zack, Cody, I'll tell you when to open your eyes."

"Okay by me." Cody said.

"Fine." Zack said

"Now then, just close your eyes, relax, and begin the countdown. Or count up, whichever you prefer."

Alex began counting. At about ten, he felt sheer cold, like he was in a blizzard. At fifteen, he felt raindrops falling on his face. When he reached twenty, it felt like he was in a furnace, it was extremely hot.

"Okay. You can open your eyes now."

They all open their eyes, to find themselves on a different landscape. It seemed to be based on a element of fire, and it had a climate to match. It felt like an extremely hot and humid summer day. The ground was completely made up of red sand, like they were in a desert.

"Well, we'll get a good tan. Damn, it's really hot."

"Yeah, we'd better get moving, before- nevermind."

Four men in suits that looked like they were recycling moisture, sweat, and any other form of water possible surrounded them. They had blades that looked like they were a combination of a sword, knife, and dagger.

"You guys are coming with us."

"Make us." Alex pulled out his staff; Zack took out his dart gun, and Cody pulled out his sword.

Zack pulled the trigger of his gun, releasing a blue laser that shot into one of the men, paralyzing them, while Cody hit one with the blunt end of his sword, rendering him unconscious. Alex spawned a metal pole, and chucked it at the third man, but the dude caught it with his free hand, threw it aside, and charged at Zack, striking him with his weapon. Zack fell to the ground.

"ZACK! What'd you-urghh." Cody fell to the ground as well as the man Zack had shot shook of the paralysis.

"They'd better not be dead. For your sake." Alex said as he parried the man's attack, and then summoned a desert storm. The man stabbed him, and the storm subsided as Alex fell unconscious.

End of Chap. 6 

In case you're wondering, I make this up as I get ideas for it. Okay, so it wasn't that big of a fight, but I put two of them in to make up for it. I suck at writing fight scenes, I'd be eternally grateful if anyone could leave me a few tips to improve that aspect. I was going to make the fights from a character's POV, but it was way too damn hard, and also complicated. I'm planning to make a sequel for this, and possibly a series of stories based on it. Tell me your thoughts on this, should I make a sequel? I probably will, I've already got ideas written down in my Algebra notebook. The only reason for that was that I was in Algebra as the ideas hit me. No idea why…anyway, review, and I'll see you in the next chapter of _It's Magic? Part 1 A Lost Memory: **Trials, Punishments, and Rewards**_. Yes, I changed the title; the reason is in the next chapter. Please leave comments, good or bad, and tell me how I can improve my story. You can submit ideas, flames (which are deleted and ignored, so why bother?), and/or praise. I'm not sure why you'd submit praise though; in my mind you do that just by taking the time to review the story. Anyway, see you in about a week! Thanks to whoever invented winter break, it will free up time to work on this!

-**ARK **


	6. Trials, Punishments, and Rewards

Welcome to Chap. 12 of _It's Magic? Part 1: A Lost Memory: **Trials, Punishments, and Rewards**_.' You may have noticed I changed the title. That would be because I am including a sequel to this, and possibly a third version, if I don't get bored. I am still open to suggestions, if anyone wants to make any, I will gladly look at your suggestion, and, if I can fit it in, I **will **include it in my story somewhere. I'm also trying to make up for lost time, which is why this chapter is up so soon after the other one. Once again, I thank whoever invented winter break. **_I do not own _The Suite Life of Zack and Cody_ in any way._** Now that that's over with, on with Chap. 12: **_Trials, Punishments, and Rewards_**

CHAP 12 

Alex woke up feeling oddly claustrophobic. He couldn't see squat, it was pitch black wherever he was.

"Hey, you're finally awake." Cody said

"Yeah. It feels…oddly clustered in here." Alex replied

"That's because this room's barely 7 feet by 8 feet." Zack remarked

"How do you know that? It's pitch-black in here." Alex asked Zack

"Do you remember those contacts Yurihagaki gave me?" Cody asked Alex

"Yeah, why?"

"They're still in. I can see plain as day, it's as if there's a bright light in the room. I measured the distance, then told Zack, and he told you."

"And why did you do that?"

"I was bored…"

"Yeah, you tend to do stupid stuff when you're bored."

"Yeah, you're right about- …HEY!"

"You could try to find a way to escape."

"Already tried. They took away all of our tools and stuff. The only things they didn't take away were our clothes, shoes, and my contacts." Cody informed him.

"No! Then that means…" Alex said as he frantically searched his pockets. "They took it! They are SO dead when we get our stuff back. I'll pulverize them!"

"And…why?"

"They took away the necklace my friend gave me as a goodbye present when I moved. I'd zipped it up in my pockets, and they TOOK IT!"

"Crap, man, sorry about that. You shouldn't have taken it in the first place."

"I always wear it, wherever I go. It's the only thing I have that he gave me. My mom insisted it stay home, or that I give it back, but I can't. Not when it's so precious."

"Now that you mentioned it, I did see you wear it quite often. I just never noticed it." Cody remarked.

"Oh. Man, that's got to suck." Zack commented

"Yeah. I'd better get it back, or I'll kill every last one of these people until I do."

Just then two guards stepped into their pitch-black cell, opening the door and flooding it with light.

"Paul shall see you now."

"Is he the one that took the necklace?" Alex asked

"He took whatever he took. He never told me what he found."

"THEN I'LL MAKE THIS PAUL CHARACTER SUFFER UNTIL HE GIVES IT BACK!" Alex shouted.

"Basically what he's trying to say is: 'Sure, we'll go.' He's a bit ticked right now."

"Yeah, we could see that. Now come this way."

They were held at knifepoint all the way to Paul's chambers. (A/N: Think of gunpoint, only with a knife.) When they got there, Paul spoke.

"You have attacked our guards, and threatened to kill me, Zeta's king. For this you shall be punished, thrown into a pit with the most ferocious sandworm we have ever bred. You will be given what you had when you came here, and if you survive, you may go."

"That's it? Well, that won't be too hard then. Bring it on."

"Very well, then. Prepare to die."

They were led into an arena of some sort; it had seats filled with various alien races and groups. Alex spotted the Ansibrue people, which he had learned were called the Khahabri, in one spot, and some humans in another. He felt he should recognize one of them, that had somewhat short hair, and looked to be in 9th grade or so, but he shook it off as a mere coincidence. The arena was pitch-black, and nothing could be seen. Then a voice boomed out from a loudspeaker.

"Hello everyone, good day, and welcome to the show!"

"Show? What kind of punishment is this?" Cody wondered aloud.

"In this corner, we have the Grandfather-of-the-Desert, the great sandworm!"

A light flickered on, revealing a 15-foot long giant worm, with two glowing green eyes and a mouth at least 4 feet in diameter. It roared loudly, and sounded like a high pitched drilling machine, whining continuously.

"And in the other corner, we have our competitors, Alex, Zack, and Cody!"

A bright light enveloped them as the rest of the lights came on, revealing the crowd even more. The man Alex thought was his friend was just another random stranger, who happened to look slightly like Daniel. Alex focused on the sandworm, his weapon ready, as Zack and Cody readied their weapons, and got into their position.

"This will be a fight to the death. If they win, which I doubt, the competitors' rewards willl be that they are set free, with no charges pressed at all. An excellent prize, considering that they threatened to kill our king, Paul."

Everyone gasped in surprise.

"Come on, it was sarcasm! Okay, maybe it wasn't, but we'd never actually kill someone of such importance!" Alex protested.

"Now I see why it's considered a punishment." Cody remarked

"I agree with you completely, brother."

"Okay, you're not making any sense."

"Yeah, I know, just forget I said anything."

"Oka-"

"Let the fight begin!"

"We're in a mess now. Let's get him. Or her. Or it, whatever! Just attack the damn sandworm."

"Yes, mother." Zack remarked.

**a picture of London appears on the screen**

The storyline is interrupted as the scene with Maddie and London takes place 

London: Okay, I'm…whatever that word is to make something, like, important, confused. Is Alex Zack's mother? Or is Carey Zack's mother? Wait, Alex is a guy, so he'd be Alex's father? But then why did Zack call Alex his mother?

**Maddie walks up to London**

Maddie: Zack was being sarcastic. I think you're looking for the word "officially."

**Maddie walks away**

London: Yeah, that's it! Wait, I still don't get it. Maddie, wait up!

Now back to the story as London continues thinking on the subject, but ending up just being clueless as usual.

(A/N: I told you I'd get them in! They may be featured in other random story interruptions, if you guys want them to! Review and please comment on this new aspect. Thank you. We now return you to your original program…book…thing.)

The sandworm lunges at them as they separate, Alex jumping up, and flying above the sandworm, Zack veering to the right, and Cody to the left. Zack shoots it with the paralyzing laser, and Cody just summons three balls of water, and, not having much else to do, begins to juggle.

"Hey, looks like we've got an entertainer here, folks!" the announcer…er…announces.

Cody realized the monster was charging at him, and threw the water balls at the monster, he didn't have time to draw his sword. The monster avoided water, and as one of the water balls hit him he retreated, like it was harmful or something.

"Cody! Try hitting him with more water, he doesn't seem to like it!" Alex said

"You think?" Zack asked Alex sarcastically

"Well…okay!" Cody replied

Cody formed a flowing river of water, his special element, and as the water started near the edges and pooled toward the center, the sandworm ran to the center of the arena, trapped by the slowly advancing pool. As the water touched the beast and slowly drowned it, Alex lifted Zack and Cody into the air, and flew them toward the audience stand and placed them down among the various races of aliens. The Khahabri congratulated the trio on defeating the most ferocious sandworm to inhabit Zeta. Paul spoke to the three in private after the battle and recognition was over.

"You may go free as I promised, and keep all of your items you have brought with you here. However, there is something else I would be grateful for you to do, I will reward you by adding some new technology onto your weapons if you succeed in completing this task."

"What is this task?" asked Alex

"Rahshignura, which means the lord of evil in our language, has terrorized our peaceful people for centuries. If you could defeat him, then our problems with him will end, and we can go back to life as it once was on Zeta."

"This sounds familiar." Alex noted

"You think?" Zack asked him.

"Can't the author come up with a more diverse plot?" Cody wondered

"Anyway, we'll do it." Alex asked

"Our people will be grateful, we thank you. You shall always be welcomed by the Neyruta" Paul answered in gratitude

End Chap. 12 

You can probably guess who Rahshignura is, right? Yeah, anyway here are some pronounciations that I have forgotten.

Zeta: Zay-tah

Paul: Pah-ull (Hey, you never know who might have trouble…)

Khahabri: Ka-ha-bree

Neyruta: Neigh-roo-ta

Rahshignura: Ra-shig-new-ra

And yes, I can come up with a more diverse plot, which will be coming in later chapters. It gets a little repetitive, I'm sure, but this may be the last time a plot similar to this comes up. Anyway, I am updating quite fast, to make up for the time I lost, and I will be making a sequel to this. It's name shall be _It's Magic Part 2: The Dreamer_. It'll feature two more of Alex's friends he had back in Ames, IA, at his old school. It also happens to be where I live. And where I go to school. I realize that that is not a sentence. Yeah… I will update more frequently.


	7. Separation

Hi again, welcome to ZCIM 13, _Separation_. Sorry I haven't been updating, school has been taking up all of my time. So, now that I've said what I want to say, I'll say what I need to say. I do not own **_The Suite Life of Zack and Cody_**. I also now have a blog-type thing where I post records of how far I am in updating the next chapter, how complete the story is, etc. Please comment on the appropriate link (provided within the message). If you at least check it out, then thanks. I would appreciate comments, though. It's also got character bios for this story. The link to it is in my profile.

-ARK

_**Chap. 13: Separation**_

As Zack, Cody, and Alex approach the demon's lair, they felt immense heat. Almost as if they'd been thrown into a simmering volcano's mouth, and the lava pit was rushing up to meet them, it grew even warmer as they drew nearer. Finally, they were at the entrance, and as they stepped into the cave, the immense and sudden heat wave stopped. Mystified, they proceed farther into the cave, not encountering a single obstacle or distraction.

"Hey, do you think this is a trap?" Cody asked the two

"No, this guy just wants to have a tea party!" Zack exclaimed sarcastically.

"Oh. Well, that's odd. Why would he-" Cody was interrupted by Zack.

"OF COURSE IT'S A TRAP! Can you BE any more dense?"

"Umm...guys?"

"Not now, we're having a creative discussion!" Cody said.

"No we're not, we're having a fight!" Zack replied.

"Creative discussion!"

"Fight!"

"Creative discussion!"

"Fight!"

"Creative dis- OWW!" Cody and Zack were whacked over the head by Alex's little staff.

"What?" Zack asked.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Cody asked.

"Look." Alex motioned with his staff to the chamber before them. Inside was a person who looked strangely familiar. He had silver hair, looked about 15 years old, and wore a matching black shirt and pants with white lines curving around in a symmetrical pattern from his shoulders down to the end of the black pants. Orange sword in hand, this kid looked rather serious.

"Dude, is that...what's his name again?"

"Rahshignura? Good guess, but not quite." The teen spoke. "Try again. I'll give you a hint. We've met before."

"You're Kimitsu, aren't you?" Cody asked

"This is my body, yes." Kimitsu said. (A/N: I'll bet you could guess this before you read the chapter.)

"You're dead!" Alex yelled.

"Actually, you're...well, not dead. But close enough." Kimitsu responded

"What are you talking about?"

"This." Kimitsu snapped his fingers, and the ground around Alex started to crack silently. Alex, however, didn't notice.

"And what exactly is that suppos- OH CRAAAAAAAAAAAP!" Alex screamed as he fell.

"ALEX!" Cody screamed and ran over to the edge of the deep opening; however, it was too late. Alex had fallen to the bottom and was unconscious, maybe even dead.

"Well, he's taken care of. Now to deal with you two." Kimitsu nodded towards the twins.

"What are you going to do with us?" Zack asked him, pulling out his dart gun.

"Make you face your dark side." Kimitsu said

"And how exactly are you going to do that?" Cody asked, pulling out his sword.

"Like this. HA!" He yelled as he stepped forward with the orange sword, and swung at Cody. The sword turned completely black as it slashed him.

"CODY!" Zack yelled as he stepped toward his brother to see that he was...completely fine. The attack seemed to do nothing to him.

"What did you do to me?" Cody asked Kimitsu.

Kimitsu pointed the sword at the ground beside him, and said something in an ancient language.

"Neyta abu te aberte, ju se septer hadare!"

The ground turned into a black liquid, and a human form rose from it, molding into an exact version of Cody, but the difference was that everything was black, as if he'd been completely covered with black paint. The only thing that wasn't black was the red eyes.

"What are you?" Cody asked him.

"I...am you. I'm your dark form."

Kimitsu proceeded to do the same thing with Zack, and stepped back once both replicas had completely finished forming.

"Jou f'garde, itara!"

The clones nodded in acknowledgment.

"Sorry, but we kinda need to kill you guys now." Dark Zack told them.

"See if you can!" Cody said, pulling out his sword.

"Alright. Prepare to die." Dark Cody said.

Cody and Dark Cody rushed toward each other, swords in hand, and slashed.

Alex woke up to see Kimitsu standing over near a wall, reading an inscription. Alex stood up and walked over to him, staff in hand. Kimitsu stood up, turned toward Alex, and spoke.

"You're awake."

"Yeah...what do you want, Kimitsu?"

"To test your ability."

"My...ability?"

"Yes. How good you've become with your element wielding, and how your fighting in general has improved."

"Alright, if that's all." Alex said, and held up his staff.

"Yes, that will do nicely." Kimitsu said, taking out his orange sword.

They rushed toward each other. Kimitsu slashed, Alex countered. This went on for a while, until Kimitsu steped back.

"Does this mean we're done?"

"Not quite." Kimitsu's sword turned purple, and he moved so fast Alex couldn't see him. He was a blur. Alex felt the sword penetrate his skin, but he seemed to be perfectly fine.

"What'd you do to me?" Alex asked, taking up his staff again.

"Merely accessed your dark side, creating a...let us say a dark form of yourself, held together with the darkness in you."

He pointed his sword at the ground, and said the same words he'd used with the twins. The dark mist started to form again, and a replica of Alex rose up.

""Jou f'garde, itara!"

Dark Alex nodded, took out the black staff, and rushed toward Alex.

"So that's how it's going to be, is it? Fine then."

Alex took his staff and rammed it into Dark Alex's stomach. Dark Alex seemed to not notice the blow as he slams his staff into Alex's head. Alex groaned in pain, and Dark Alex leaped up, passing through the hole Alex had fallen trough and pressing his hands and legs to the side, stabling himself and preventing him from falling back down. he then began to slowly climb out of the hole.

"SO that's how it's going to be, is it. Alright, then." Alex did the same, leaping up and climbing out of the cavern.

Cody and Zack had killed their dark forms, which had vanished and the mists seemed to seep into their bodies. Then Dark Alex leaped out of the hole Alex had fell through.

"Not him too!" Cody groaned as he weakly pulled out his sword, barely strong enough to fight. Zack did the same. Neither twin was in any condition to fight. Dark Alex rushed toward Cody and swung his staff; Cody weakly countered this and slashed at him. The attack did nothing to harm Dark Alex, and he effectively parried a stun dart from Zack's gun. Dark Alex swung at Cody again, but this time it was blocked by another staff.

"Alex!" Cody exclaimed in surprise.

Alex grabs Cody's sword and stabs Dark Alex in the stomach. He gasps, bends over, and turns back into mist which then seeps into his body.

"Ok...weird. Let's move on, this place is creeping me out." Cody said

"Alright."

They head outside, and back to the village.

**IN THE PALACE**

"Have you defeated Rashignura?" Paul asked him

"Umm...yeah, I guess." Alex responded

"Very well, then. You may go free of all charges. Hand me your weapons."

Alex handed over his staff, Cody his sword, and Zack his gun.

"Thank you. The upgrades will be complete in three days. You have until then to relax and enjoy yourselves in the village as guests. Here, take this as well."

Paul handed Alex a bag with some gold-looking pieces inside it.

"Gold. The main currency of our planet."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Alex said. They politely bowed, and left to explore.

**IN THE VILLAGE**

"So, what do you two want to do first?" Alex asked

"I suppose we could check out some of the shops, see what all they have to buy here. You never know what you could find on a different planet." Cody said in response

"Sounds good to me." Zack said.

"Not like we have anything else to do, let's go!" Alex said.

The three took off, exploring many different places and shops. Nothing they saw interested them until Cody spotted a little shop tucked away around a corner.

"Hey, look, a fortune teller! Let's see what kind of stuff they can make up about us!" Cody said.

"Heh, sure." Alex said.

"I'm up for it." Zack responded.

They headed to the fortune teller's shop, and entered. A low, faint ringing sounded in their ears, so faint they almost felt like they were imagining it.

"May I help you? I assume you want to know what your future looks like..."

"Umm...yeah." Alex responded

"Very well, sit down."

Alex sat in a chair, and watched as the woman flipped through a book that was sitting on the table. It looked like it was over 4 thousand pages long. Alex wondered exactly how many pages were in the book.

"Five thousand six hundred and ninety three."

"What?"

"You wanted to know the number of pages in the book, I told you."

Alex sat there in shock. Not from the lady reading his mind, but from the page she had stopped at.

"Hey, can I see that book for a second?"

"What, this?"

"Yeah."

"Sure." She handed him the book.

"Is that...no..it couldn't be."

Alex dropped the book and ran out of the room, Zack and Cody following closely behind.

**END OF CHAP. 13**

Yeah! New chapter! Finally! Sorry I haven't been updating as much, I've got school to take care of. Expect a **_LOT_** more updates when summer comes around, I'll be bored and have nothing else to do. Please check the blog in my profile and comment. I've made a section for the IM character bios, too. PM me with comments, or post them in the appropriate section.

-ARK


	8. An Old Friend?

_A/N _**2/4/06**: Hey, it's the 14th chapter already! Cool. In this chapter, we meet a new character. Once. Then he goes away until the sequel. I thank my few fans for reviewing this fic, I wouldn't be updating this nearly as soon if it weren't for these people: **amylovestakuya, YoungCloud, **and** ExtrmEagle.** I know that I can always count on them to read and review this story. THANK YOU ALL! And anybody else I forgot to mention that reviewed.

-ARK

Chap. 14: An Old Friend?

_POV: Alex_

"Dude, wait up!" Zack yelled after me, but I didn't stop. I couldn't stop, not until I was far away from that book. It had shown me something I never thought I'd see. Something I would have preferred not seeing. I never thought he would have to be dragged into this horrid fate of ours. He couldn't be. I wouldn't let it happen! I couldn't possibly let him face this torturous life. This life of danger, misery, and general unhappiness.

_Flashback:_

_I looked at the picture in the book, and saw immediately that it wasn't a still photo, like most pictures a camera would record. It was as if somebody had recorded it, and somehow put it on paper. I was shocked for a moment, but even more so when I focused on what the picture was actually showing._

"_**No! NO! Please...stop. Aggh- no...don't...please. Please stop it...ergh."**_

"_**Not until you tell me what your connection with the elementalist is."**_

"_**Please, stop! I'm his partner...that's all. I'm worth nothing to him. Please st-stop, ugh..."**_

"_**You lie. Tell me the truth!"**_

"_**I am! Will you ple-urgh."**_

_**Patrick fainted as Kimitsu smacked him with the blunt end of his sword, causing blood to gush from his forehead.**_

_I was shocked. I couldn't let that happen to him. I instantly dropped the book and ran out of the building._

_End Flashback_

"Alex? What happened back there?" Zack asked me.

"Yeah, man, what happened? You look like you've seen a ghost." Cody said

"It's...nothing. Nothing at all." I responded

"There's got to be something you're not telling us." Zack persisted

"No...there was...he was being...can't let it happen..." I then ran from them. I ran far, far away. They couldn't know, and wouldn't understand. Nobody could understand. I wasn't even sure I comprehended the full meaning of it yet. I needed time to think.

_POV: Third Person_

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Cody asked Zack as they watched Alex run through the village away from them.

"He'll come around eventually. I just wish we knew what could have possibly made him react like that." Zack said, heading toward the lodge they were renting for the three days it would take for their weapons to be upgraded.

"Yeah...he'll come around." '_I hope.'_ Cody thought as he followed his brother.

_POV; Alex_

I continued to run. I knew I'd have to go back sometime, but I couldn't face them yet. Not with what I'd just seen. I needed some time to think. I ran to the outskirts of the village. I finally collapsed in an alleyway, and sank to the ground, letting unconsciousness claim me.

_Dream Sequence_

_I woke up, back at the Tipton. I looked around, glad to finally be back...home. This had been my home for six months now. I wondered why it was still so hard to call it that; but I shrugged it off and walked into the hotel. I saw Patrick standing there, and ran towards him. He saw me, and began running away._

"_Patrick! Why are you running, it's me! Alex, your best friend, don't you remember?"_

"_You're not my friend, anymore."_

"_What! Don't be ridiculous, Pat. We're friends, don't you remember me?"_

"_You hurt me. Left me to his desire. Left me to submit to his pain! How could I call you a true friend after what you did!"_

"_I never did anything like that!"_

"_Why do you still deny it. You know the reality. You can't take it back. Not now, not ever." He coldly responded._

"_But I-"_

_Patrick pulled out a knife and stabbed me with it._

"_Goodbye, Alex. I wish I didn't have to do this, but after what you did to me, it only seemed fitting."_

"_Patrick...please! Don't...leave me...like this..."_

"_I'm sorry..."_

_I watched him slowly walk away as I sank to the floor, letting death and darkness take hold of me._

_End Dream Sequence_

I woke up in a cold sweat.

"Phew, it was only a dream." I said to nobody in particular.

I walked back to the lodge, and headed to our room. I climbed into the bed, and eventually fell asleep.

_**The Day After Tomorrow**_

POV: Cody

I woke up. I looked at my brother, sleeping peacefully in these dry heat conditions, and proceeded to head downstairs. I found Alex down there, sitting on a chair. I walked over to him.

"Hey there." I spoke

"Meh." Alex responded

"Do you want to talk about what happened yesterday?"

"I suppose so..."

He repeated what he saw to me. I felt horrible, and I wasn't quite sure why.

"That's gotta be hard to take. Sorry about pressuring you to talk about it yesterday."

"It's alright. I needed to talk about it with you guys sometime. You'd better wake your brother up, we're supposed to see P- His Majesty today." I caught myself just in time. You weren't ever allowed to speak His Majesty's name unless he gave you explicit permission.

"Alright. I'll head upstairs and wake him up."

Cody heads upstairs, and Alex slowly gets up, and stands beside the door, waiting for his friends to come down.

POV: Alex

Zack and Cody finally came down the steps. Zack came first, and sort of tripped about halfway down, so that he fell, rolling down the rest of the stairs to do a face plant at the bottom.

"What's so funny?" Zack said hotly as I began laughing.

"He's not usually this uncoordinated. Maybe he's nervous." Cody responded, chuckling slightly.

"Or he's just never seen these thing called 'steps' before." I laughed.

"Not funny, guys." Zack responded. "Can we just go."

"Sure."

We headed to the palace to receive our weapons, and I thought about my dream, as well as what I had seen in the Book of Prophecies. It was that book that I was frightened by the most.

**END OF CHAP. 14**

_A/N **2/4/06:**_ One chapter in one day. That's something that rarely happens now. So, there's another chapter. I hope you all liked this one. Nobody's said anything about my blog thing, so I'm assuming you haven't read it. Please comment on it! Was it good or bad? Does something need to be added? What do you think! Link is in my profile. I'm sorry this chapter is so short, I'll make the next one longer.

-ARK


	9. A New Face

_A/N** 2/5/06**_: Thanks to all who reviewed. I seriously wouldn't be updating right now if it wasn't for you. I will introduce a new character in this chapter. I know, I've got a lot of new characters, deal with it. Here's the 15th chapter of this fic.

-ARK

**CHAP. 15: **_A New Face_

_POV: Alex_

We walked down to the palace. I was thinking, lost in my own thoughts the whole way there. Even Zack, who tripped numerous times along the way, wasn't enough to shake me from my thoughts. Not even the time when he walked straight into the side of that building. I wasn't sure why he was so...uncoordinated. He played basketball really well, and this was very unlike him. I put it aside and thought about other things. Why was Patrick meant to be drug into this? He didn't deserve it. No way...there must be some reason for this. I'll probably find out later...

"ALEX!" I heard a shout, and then a hand was vigorously waving in front of my face.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"We're kinda here." Cody said.

"Oh, right. Let's go, then."

_POV: Cody_

They'd both been losing it lately. Especially Zack, though I didn't know why... I shrugged it off, and headed inside with the others.

_POV: Third Person_

The trio stepped into the palace, and headed up to His Majesty's chamber. Once inside, they bowed low, and waited for acknowledgment.

"No need to be formal." Paul said.

They stood up.

"Now, then. On with business. Zack, step forward."

Cody stepped forward.

"No, I said Zack. Not you, Cody."

"You can tell us apart?"

"Yeah...it's not THAT hard."

"Oh. Damn." Cody said, stepping back, and Zack took his brother's place.

"Now, then, Zack, this is for you." Paul said as he handed Zack the gun-thing again. It was painted with a cool flame design.

"This isn't really an upgrade. I like the design, though!" Zack commented.

"Pull the trigger."

Zack did so, and a burst of fire shot out of the end, lightly torching the carpet.

"AH! S-Sorry."

"It's alright. We can get new carpeting anytime. Cody, step forward now."

Cody stepped forward and waited patiently. A sword about a foot long was thrown at him. Cody caught it easily, then realized it was the same sword as before. There was only one difference. A blue stripe had been wrapped around the hilt, followed by a white stripe about a centimeter up.

"Um...thanks..." Cody responded.

"You're welcome. And lastly, will you step forward, Alex."

Alex stepped forward. "You know all of our names. Even the twins'. You can also tell the twins apart. It's creepy."

"That's the objective. I think...oh well. Here's your upgrade."

A black sword about two feet long was chucked from behind Paul's chair, and it flew right at Alex's head. Alex caught it easily, and inspected it.

"Hmm...black blade...nice touch."

"Formed from the finest obsidian on the planet. It can cut through nearly anything."

"Thanks. We should probably go." Alex said

"Very well, then you may depart. I wish you luck on your journey." Paul said.

The three left, out of the village, and into the harsh desert. When they were about a mile out, they came to a cliff. Somebody who looked very familiar hung from it's edge.

"Hey, is that...Zack?" Cody wondered out loud.

"I think it is, but then who is..." Alex trailed off. "I hate you, now. You know that right."

Zack nodded, and began to shape shift. He morphed into the one person they all loathed.

"KIMITSU! How did you- oh, never mind that, you're still gonna die." Cody responded.

Kimitsu's eyes widened as he looked at the cliff, which caused Cody to look up as well.

"Hey, who the hell is that?" Cody wondered

"I'm not really sure..." Alex responded.

The stranger formed a blade of ice, cut Zack's bindings, then jumped off the cliff. The stranger landed, rolling forward to nullify some of the pain that would have been felt from the fifteen foot drop. The fighter then knocked Zack's gun from Kimitsu's hands, caught it, and handed it to Zack, who had ended up face planting on the ground.

"Thanks...ow..." Zack moaned in pain as he took the gun from the stranger. The stranger then formed some ice-type throwing knives, and chucked them at Kimtisu, then ran forward. As Kimitsu was distracted with the throwing knives, she ran in and slashed him with her sword, also made out of ice. She then turned to face them, her brown, wavy hair blowing in the slight breeze. As she looked at Alex with brown eyes, that faded from light brown to dark brown from top to bottom.

"Umm...who are you?"

"Me? I'm Amy? Who are you guys?"

"I'm Cody. Nice to meet you." Cody responded

"Hey there, sweet thang!" Zack said. Amy then smacked him.

"Heh, Zack, when will you learn? I'm Alex. Nice to meet you."

"We need to go. Up there, to the top of the cliff." Amy responded.

"And...why?" Alex questioned.

"I...I dunno. It just feels like we should." Amy responded.

"Well, then, what are we waiting around here for? It's not like there's anything better to do." Zack said.

They begin to head up towards the cliff, and start to climb up it. They reach the top, and see a cae that has a black light coming from it.

"I've got a bad feeling about this, guys..." Alex said.

"Let's check it out." Amy said.

They enter the cave, and one by one, fall into the realm of unconsciousness.

There's another chapter. I hope you liked it! Please review, and other than that, I don't have much else to say. I thank the three who reviewed my story.

-ARK


	10. Two Young Telepaths

_A/N **2/11/06: **_Hey, here's the next chapter of ZCIM: _Meeting Marc and Sarah_ Yes, this means more O.Cs, but that good, right? I'll probably end up having lots of O.Cs by the time this fic series gets finished. Oh well. I've got more people in this chapter, so that's good. I'll stop repeating myself over and over now and get on with the chapter.

You may have noticed that this is the fpourteenth chapter, yet I had submitted the fourteenth chapter a while ago. This is because I deleted some of the beginning chapters. I felt that the intro drug on way too long without ever getting anywhere. So, I deleted some of the less important parts. Anyway, on with the next chapter. Sorry it took so long to update, I have a life!

**Disclaimer: The only people/places I own are: Alex, Kimitsu, Paul, Zeta, Ansibrue. Everything else is owned by somebody.**

**People in this fic who own themselves: Marc, Sarah, Amy, Patrick. They have given me permission to put them into this fic.**

**I DO NOT OWN _The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. _It is owned by somebody I do not know.**

That is all.

-ARK

_Chapter 14: **Familiar Strangers**_

_POV: Alex_

I woke up first, with everyone waking up around the same time. It seemed to be a nice day, with the forest and the grass shin- wait a second, forest and grass! Where were we? I crawled out of the cave we were in, to realize that this was NOT Zeta. Where the hell were we?

"Where are we?" I said to nobody in particular.

"No clue. We're not in Zeta anymore though." Amy responded.

"I could see that. Better explain it to Zack, though. He might have trouble."

Amy chuckles, and Zack comes out of the cave.

"I heard that, you bastard." Zack said, mainly to me.

"So? I don't care." I replied.

"Guys! Look over there!" Cody pointed to a large castle-like structure far off in the distance. It seemed very old and not well-kept. The group headed over to it to check it out.

"Man, what's a crummy thing like this doing in the middle of nowhere?" Zack said

"I'm actually...not sure at all. I wonder what it's here for." I replied. I noticed something out of the corner of my eye just then, and turned to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

"Hey, does the castle seem to be sprouting vines to you?"

"What are you talking about?" Amy asked.

"Look there." I pointed, and now the vines were much larger and more visible. After around approximately three or four minutes they shot out, growing much longer, to latch onto the roots of a tree not too far behind us. Then two figures appeared in one of the corner towers.

"Hey, who are those guys?" Zack said, noticing them first.

"I'm not sure." Amy replied. Cody just stood there, sword in hand, waiting for something to happen. Everybody watched the two figures up in the tower, waiting for them to do something. They seemed to be conversing with each other.

POV: Third Person:

After a while, they hopped from the tower, each landing on a vine, and slid down them, each jumping off about halfway down to land in front of the group.

"Why are you here?" The boy asked them.

"Are you here to assault our father, the king of this land?" The girl responded.

The girl had on a dark green mini skirt, and a lime green spaghetti strap top. An emblem, shaped like a leaf, was sown onto her green headband. The guy wore dark green baggy pants, a light green shirt, and a necklace with a emblem shaped like a leaf as well. They were both the same height, about 3 inches taller than Alex at 5 foot 8 inches. They both looked about the same weight as well.

"N-N-No. Why? Who are you?" Zack responded.

Just then the girl looked at Zack, and then over at Cody, then back to Zack. She sent out a telepathic vibe to the guy.

"_Hey, Marc, look at the two small ones."_

"_Yeah, I know. They look just like the two we're supposed to protect, Sarah. That would mean the guy with them is the elementalist. I'm not sure who the girl is, though. Perhaps this is a trick."_

"_Maybe. Maybe not. I don't want to risk it, but if it is, then..."_

"_I say we go for it. If it truly is the elementalist and his friends, then they should prove a challenge."_

"_Okay..."_

**Meanwhile...**

"Hello? HELLOOOOO?" Zack waved his hand in front of their faces. Suddeny the girl blinked, and Zack shot back in fright.

"AHHH!"

"We have decided. You must all perish." The guy says softly, as if he is sad about having to kill them.

"If you want a fight, then you'll get one." Alex said, pulling out his black sword.

"_Hey, that's a cool sword."_ Sarah thought to her self, not making the connection.

"_That sword! It's...the mark. He's real, and he's right here." _Marc thought.

"Let's get this started." Amy said, forming throwing knives in her hands. She chucked them at Sarah, who easily blocked them with a psychic force field. She then threw a psychic blast at Amy, who was knocked out cold.

"_Grr...these two are good."_ Alex thought. He swung at Marc, who, again, easily blocked the blow with a psychic force field.

"For the savior of the universe, you sure are a pretty bad fighter." Marc said as he knocked Alex out cold with yet another psychic blast.

"These two are really good." Cody said to Zack.

"Yea, I know." Zack responded.

The battle went on for quite a while, with neither side taking any damage. Eventually, they quit fighting, and Zack and Cody passed out from exhaustion.

"Let's go." Marc said out loud to Sarah.

They take each of the bodies and drag them to their hideout.

_**END OF CHAPTER 14**_

_A/N **2/13/06:**_ Did you like it? Please review! Credit for the title goes to Sarah.

-ARK


	11. Murdering Royalty

**A/_N 2/20/05: _**_This_ is chapter...15 of ZCIM. Perhaps it was sixteen, I'm not sure. Most of the introduction got deleted for one reason only: **_IT WAS TOO BORING!_** Please review. Also, I am working on a co written fanfic which is up now. If you could review that as well, it would be appreciated. It's rated M, if that matters to anybody. It is under the pen name BerryKids. You don't like the pen name, too bad.

In other news, footnotes will be added periodically. This look like this:(#)

Wow. I just read the beginning, and realized something. IT SUCKS! I will focus my time on rewriting the beginning, and getting rid of the script-writing and other stuff. Chapter number will decrease, but the plot will essentially remain the same. So you don't have to read all the way through it again if you don't want to.

-ARK

Chap. 16: _Murdering Royalty_

Alex woke up some time later. He was crammed into a small jail type cell of some sort with Zack and Cody, who were asleep. That or knocked out, it was impossible to tell. He looked around, using the little light that was provided through the bottom of the door to check out his surroundings. He appeared to be in a small cell, and there was a very suspicious unlocked door set in the west wall, from which light was flowing. Waiting for something to happen, he sat there. Zack and Cody woke up sometime later. They had all lost track of any form of time measurement. They weren't even sure what month it was anymore.

"Man, I wonder how long we've been here." Cody wondered aloud.

"I'm not even sure how long we've been in this cell thing, let alone how long we've been on this whole journey." Alex responded.

"I wonder if our parents miss us? I wonder what they're doing to try and find us..." Cody said.

"Yeah, mom's gotta be REALLY worried." Zack said.

"Yeah, my parents are probably doing the same." Alex contributed.

"I wonder how long we're going to be here." Cody said.

"We still have all our stuff. Why did they leave it?" Alex wondered.

"I dunno, but let's get out of here." Cody said, going over to try the door. It was locked.

"The door's locked, guys." Cody told them.

"You think they're just going to leave it unlocked? Here, try this." Alex said, throwing Cody's lock pick at him. Cody caught it, and proceeded to unlock the door. In six seconds, the door was open.

"Six seconds? That guy said it was five..." Cody said.

"Why does it MATTER? Let's get out of here!" Zack said.

They gathered all their stuff, and exited into a maze of corridors. It didn't seem like a maze at first, but after wandering around for a while, they were beginning to get tired of it.

"Man, I'm getting REALLY tired of this." Zack said, punching one of the walls. Surprisingly, he fell right through it proceeding to break his fall with his face.

"Ow." Zack mumbled.

"Hey, these 'walls' are just made of paper."

"Wow, you'd think that they'd be able to afford something a bit more expensive. Like actual walls." Cody said sarcastically.

"Who cares, let's just go already." Zack said, getting up, pointing his gun at a random point on the wall and pulling the trigger. Instantly, the wall burst into flame, and slowly burned down to the ground.

"This is going too slowly." He commented, and held the trigger down. Pillars of flame shot from the gun, torching all of the fake wall to the ground, leaving only a HUGE room.

"Wow. This room is big. Anyway, let's go." Alex said. The three ran for the door, only to be stopped by somebody they knew half way across. Somebody they knew, and hated with a passion.

"Kimitsu..." Alex said, the bitter tone of his voice obvious.

"Yes? What is it...do you wish to die? That can be arranged."

"You're going to die today, you demon." Alex said

"You're the one that's going to be in pain...after these guys finish with you." Kimitsu spoke with menace in his words.

"What are you talking about? If you hadn't noticed, the only people here are you, me, Zack, and Cody." Alex said.

"Not for long." Kimitsu said with a smirk.

"Demoner av den 7 trinn, oppstår! Jeg, behersker av underworld rop De! Ødelegger elementalist!" He called out.

Demons rose from the ground, forming among the numerous pits of blood that had been formed as a result of Kimitsu's summoning. With the plate of their head like a triceratops's, and small spikes forming around the edges of said plate, their eyes, red with blood, glowed out from just above the shoulder blades. These, too, had spikes on them, and the body of this demon was like a snake's, with a tail that ended in a vicious, sharp spike, and the abdominal area had plates of hardened bone that looked almost like a football player's shoulder pads. This protective armor covered what seemed to be a rib cage, and their arms, with two spike protruding from their forearms, one hand ablaze with blue fire, the other sported hardened claws from a flesh-deprived hand.

"Have fun, elementalist. Demoner av den 7 nivå. Min tjenere, jeg kommanderer De ødelegge elementalist og hans følgesvenner."

"Why the hell does everyone keep calling me that?" Alex wondered, pulling out his sword. Cody pulled out his sword as well, and Zack aimed his gun at one of the repulsive creatures and pulled the trigger. Flames engulfed the hideous beast, and it fell to the ground, burning and taking on a horrible stench. It smelled like a cross between a skunk and 5 month old roadkill.(1)

"Zack, I've got some advice for you. NEVER DO THAT AGAIN! Although it only smells half as bad as that sandwich you had in your locker 2 years ago.

"You had a sandwich in your locker?" Alex asked him

"It was in a locker nobody ever bothered to clean out. Maybe it's still there. Let's go see if it is when we get back home." Zack replied.

"I think we should figure out a way out of this mess first." Cody said, parrying a blow from one of the vicious monsters, and then stabbing it in the stomach. It fell to the ground, and seeped downward, the ground absorbing the corpse.

"Weird. I wonder why that happened." Alex said.

"Who cares?" Zack said, lighting another one of the entities.

" I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT ANYMORE!" Cody yelled at his brother. The unmistakeable stench filled the room a second time.

"I know, but it's fun." Zack replied, and burned another one.

Rising up out of the ground, however, were reinforcements.

"More spiky dudes? Ugh." Zack complained.

"Are you sure about their gender?" Alex asked.

"You know, I really would rather be unsure about that aspect."

"Good point." Alex said, stabbing his 10th beast so far.

"Damn. I need to catch up." Zack said, and torched another three. "Eleven. Beat that!"

"Hey, those were mine!" Cody yelled. "Now I only have 6!"

Atop one of the rafters of the big room, Kimitsu crouched and watched the fight, and the various arguments going between the three.

'_Amazing. Those demons are the fourth most powerful demons of their dimension, and those guys are making a sport out of it. That and talking about rotting sandwiches in lockers. It's confusing, with their horrible skills, they should be ripped apart by now. Guess I'll have to turn up the heat.'_

"Demoner av den 8 trinn, oppstår! Jeg, behersker av underworld rop De! Ødelegger elementalist!" He whispered.

Back on the ground, Alex had just vanquished the last demon.

"Hey, I beat both of you! 23 to 22 for you guys." Zack said.

"Demon-hogger." Cody whispered to Alex when Zack wasn't listening.

"I know." Alex replied.

"Guys? Look..." Zack trembled as he pointed behind them.

"What?" Alex turned. "Holy s-" But the sight of the beast stopped him from completing his sentence. It had a skeletal face, with matted, lengthy hair running down in a point behind it, colored much the same as the face. Glowing blue eyes stared back at them, and it seemed to possess no type of defense. It appeared to be almost the shape of a human, but with long blades gleaming down past its hands, glowing with a blue light, which seemed to be made of pure energy. The monster, beside that, looked much like a skeleton, and seemed to be infused with energy from some other source. It opened its mouth, merely a jawbone, with no flesh attached, and spoke.

"What's this? Is this the rumored all powerful elementalist? Quite young, to bear such a great responsibility, yep. Quite young, quite young." It spoke with a slightly British accent.

"Okay, what the hell is wrong with that guy?" Zack asked.

"I'm not sure. He's really weird, though." Cody responded.

"Why does everyone keep calling me that! It gets annoying..." Alex said.

"You don't wish to be called like you deserve? Very well, then. How about 'annoying little kid?' That'll do nicely, I think. It also fits you well, don't you think, chap?" The creature said. Zack and Cody laughed at this.

"Damnit. You're going to die like your little friends did."

"Those were merely 7th rank. Low importance. I, however, am of the 8th rank, and much higher in ability." The thing spoke, still in the same Britain/Ireland accent.

"Well, demon with a British accent, you will be dead in an hour, maybe two." Alex said menacingly.

"Maybe, chap. Maybe not. You're quite stupid, eh?" The demon had taken on a Canadian accent now.

"You...are very annoying. You know that?" Alex asked it.

"I'm also rumored to be very very ugly, eh. Is that true, chap?" The demon asked.

"YES!" Cody shouted. "CAN WE PLEASE MOVE ON!"

"Eh, fine by me, blondie." The demon said. Suddenly, sheer force knocked the three back, throwing them against the stone wall. High above, safe from the destruction, Kimitsu watched with glee.

'_This demon's powerful. Very powerful, if a bit talkative. He'll do the job just fine.'_

Alex threw his sword at the enemy in desperation. The demon blocked it aside easily.

"Now then, chap, you're quite stupid if that's all you've got." The demon said. "Killing you will be effortless, I think. Then I can go have a burger or something. I think I'll have a quarter-pound of human flesh. Your's will do nicely. Hey, now quit that!" He said in annoyance as Zack tried to burn him with flames. This, however, had no effect.

"Did I ever tell you how much that annoys me? Quite a lot. Out of my way, now, chap."

"Ulwahg..." Zack cried out in pain as the demon easily swept him aside.

"Now to deal with your clone-boy over there." The demon advanced on Cody, and Cody bore his sword with bravery and fear at the same time. He was swept aside just as easily, and the shock of him hitting the wall knocked him out cold.

"Zack! Cody!" Alex yelled, but he could do nothing as the beam of wood broke off, and fell on Zack's legs with a sharp crack, leaving him unable to move and broken legs seemed like a good possibility fro them both.

"You bastard. You'll pay for how you hurt them. You hear me? You. Will. Pay." Alex said, his shoes changing slightly. This went unnoticed, however, by everyone.

"Really, chap? And how do you think you are going to do that, eh? If you're as weak, useless, and dumb as those two clone-boys, you hardly stand a chance, chap."

"That's it. You. Die. NOW!" Alex's eyes began to glow blood-red; his skin began to turn a pale gray. His outfit, dark blue, with two black streaks up by the armpits, and two streaks, also black, running down from his shoulders, curving to the sides to match his pants, which each had a single black stripe running from the side all the way down. His shoes, pure black, with blue soles. The sword also changed, it now had a blue blade, with a black hilt.

"Nice attire, chap. However, a change of clothes won't intimidate me at all. You'll have to try harder."

"You want harder? I'll give you harder. Much harder. I'll cut you to pieces, you rotting piece of scum."

"Hey, now, that's not very nice."

"At least I've still got skin, you ugly corpse."

"Just for that, chap, you're going to hell."

"I've already been there. My light side hasn't yet, but I personally find it quite enjoyable."

"Well, that's nice, chap. You're still gonna be going back."

"Fine by me. That is, if you survive to send me there."

"Alright, then, chap."

The demon lashes out at Alex, swinging the blades at him. Alex easily dodged this with lightning speed, and countered just as quick, slashing the demon like he wasn't even there and Alex was just swinging at thin air for practice. The demon fell, cut in half.

"Too easy."

Up high on the rafters, Kimitsu stood in shock.

"_He...beat it...like it was just a pesky bug. A nuisance, rather than a challenge. Hopefully the demon will have something up his sleeve to turn the tables on Alex. I really don't want to have to do the dirty work myself."_

And the demon did...

The two halves regenerated, sprouting their missing halves. Two beings took the place of one.

"Not that easy, chap. Gonna have to try again, yes you are."

"Very well. Let's try this again. DødSlag!" Alex's hand grew pure black with energy, and he punched both demons with lightning speed. The demons turned black, and disintegrated into nothingness.

"Well, that was simple." Alex then fainted, and returned to his normal self.

Zack could only stare in bewilderment.

"What just..."

Alex then woke up, looked around, and spoke to Zack.

"What the hell happened to me?" He said in complete confusion.

"I'm not sure, but you changed. You looked WAY different." Zack said.

"Here, I'll get that plank off of your legs." Alex said, and lifted the plank off of Zack's bruised legs.

"Thanks, man." Zack tries to stand up, but falls and cries out from the pain.

"Here, I'll help you." Alex said as he reached out his hand to Zack, and helped him slowly stand. Kimitsu watched this from the rafters.

'_What compassion he's got. It's amazing. People don't show that kind of compassion to our kind. I wish they did, we'd definitely not feel the need to take out all our anger and depression on them. I hadn't even figured out that I was different...I was just a normal kid. At least, I was...until they killed the only person that ever showed me any sort of love. They killed my own mother. I'll think more on this later. Right now, I have something to do.'_

Kimitsu jumps back, and with a small 'pop', he disappears. Alex helps Zack and Cody, both with injured legs, limp towards the door, and towards freedom from this room of bloodshed.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Zack weakly moans, mostly in pain. He can hardly breathe, and Cody is no better off. They meet up with two people.

"You two...seem familiar. I can't say where, though."

"We should look familiar, Cody. We know you, and you know us." Marc said.

"What? I've never seen you in my life. And yet, I can't help the feeling that I know you from somewhere." Cody said.

"That's because I've been watching over you, to make sure no harm befell you before this journey. My connection to you remains a mystery to both of us; however, it is there. There is no doubt of that."

"And I am connected to you in the same way, Zack. It's like...oh, what's a word for it...twin telepathy." Sarah said.

"Yeah. Our dad is upstairs, and he wants to meet you. Let's go." Marc said.

"Well, okay." Alex responded.

'_I just hope this isn't a trap.' _He thought.

They got to the throne room, and went inside. Everyone gasped in shock. Marc and Sarah's dad lay on the royal blue carpet.(2) His blood was spilled over the floor. In the middle of the room stood Kimitsu, with a smirk on his face.

**End Chapter 16**

So how'd you like it? I really tried to put some description into it. Only 8 pages...oh well. It's long enough. Now for the footnotes I promised in the beginning.

(1): If you've actually smelled this, I pity you. It sounds disgusting.

(2): No pun intended

And the beginning WILL be revised. It sucks, plain and simple. There may be some things taken out.

That's all. Please review!

- ARK -


	12. Painful Memories, Denied Feelings

A/N: _2/21/06:_**This is the next chapter of ZCIM. I'm not sure which one it will end up as, though, because I'll be taking out the first few chapters in place of of the rewrite I'm going to do, and am too lazy to figure it out. You'll know soon enough anyways...here's the next chapter. I'll call it the sixteenth chapter for now, I might change it later, but I'll probably be too lazy to do so.**

_A/N 3/04/06:_**I should explain my lack of contact to those I have it with. Practically nobody, but still. There are...three or four that I'm emailing frequently that would read this. It is due to my Internet service, which sucks even worse than the very first chapter of this fic, if you remember it. If not, I advise you to NOT refresh your memory...anyway, the point is my Internet sucks, and that is why I haven't been responding to PMs and emails and stuff like that. Yeah...you probably just want me to get on with the chapter, so I'll do that.**

_A/N 3/10/06_**I love Spring Break! In commemoration of this joyous week off from school, I'll update! Nothing else to do, anyway... It probably won't be up anytime near today because of my crappy Internet...yeah.**

**: A footnote, commented on in the author's note after the end of the actual chapter. Just wanted to make sure you remembered, if you even care. If not, then why the hell are you reading this? Continue to the chapter! They're in bold...if you care...which you probably don't.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN _The Suite Life of Zack and Cody_.**** Everything else, however, is mine! Except for Marc and Sarah. They created themselves. But everything ELSE is MINE! Just ask if you want to use the characters. Odds of me saying yes are 1 out of 1 if you ask! If not, then I...won't really care...but please ask. It makes life so much easier.**

**- ARK -**

**ZCIM 16: Painful Memories, Denied Feelings**

Alex looked at Kimitsu with a deep sense of hatred, mixed with flowing emotions of pain, sadness, wonderment, and anger. He began to change to his dark form involuntarily as he spoke.

"What did you do to him?" Alex spoke with menace and anger in his voice.

"Merely ended his pathetic life. An unimportant casualty in the whole scheme of things." Kimitsu responded. Marc and Sarah could only stare in bewilderment and confusion. Realization finally dawned on them like a tidal wave of horror.

"You killed our father!" Marc shouted as Alex completed his transformation. A wave of pure force knocked Kimitsu back, slamming him into the far wall.

"LEAVE NOW OR YOU'LL SUFFUR THE CONSEQUENCES!" Alex bellowed, yet it seemed not to come from his mouth, but from deep inside his chest, like somebody was possessing him.

"Ugh...what strength...how did you ever come across it?"

"I SAID LEAVE!" He shouted again. His voice now sounded metallic and hollow.

"No." Marc said.

"What? He killed your father? Why don't you want him to leave?" Zack asked.

"Actually, let us deal with it. It's a personal matter." Sarah said.

"LEAVE!" Alex bellowed again. He seemed intent on staying right where he was.

"I said to back OFF!" Marc shouted, blasting Alex with a supremely powerful psychic blast. Alex flew across the room, bashing his head against the north wall and falling unconscious, reverting back to his normal form.

The two telepathic twins turned toward Kimitsu. The flames of anger in their eyes were evident. Could this be the same person who had killed their mother and 2nd sibling? Suddenly Marc grabbed Sarah's hand.

'NOW!' Marc said telepathically, and the two went flying at Kimitsu only to be blasted back by his extreme power, as their shock from their father's death had weakened their strength and therefore their attacks. Falling to the ground, Marc and Sarah fell into the vast mist of unconsciousness.

"You're going to regret that!" Alex yelled, rushing at Kimitsu with what little strength he had left in his cut and blood-deprived figure. Kimitsu, suffering an equal deprivation, rushed at Alex as well. They collided, slashing at each other. Then something happened, something that nobody had, or would have expected to happen at all. Amy smashed through the wall, and Kimitsu, being startled slightly flinched, which provided Alex with enough time to stab him in the back. Kimitsu disappeared, and reappeared by the door.

"You thought you had me beat? Think again. I shall return more powerful than ever before, elementalist!" He shouted, fading away as if he were some sort of ghost.

"Damn! Why the hell does everyone call me that!" Alex shouted, violently forcing his sword into the blood-stained carpet.

"I suppose-" Sarah said, breathing deeply, "I suppose we should explain everything."

"Ya think?" Cody said sarcastically.

"That'd be nice." Amy said.

"Where'd you come from anyway?" Alex asked her.

"Over that-a way." Amy pointed the opposite direction of the wall she crashed through.

"I could have guessed that. Now are we gonna start explaining anything or not?" Zack said, with an obvious intent of getting to the point.

"Okay, fine. I'll start from the beginning." Sarah said.

"Of course you will! There's no point in starting from the middle, is there?" Zack responded.

"Will you just shut up and let her explain?" Alex asked Zack, with hints of anger amid his sea green eyes.

"Alright, alright, fine. You can start now." Zack said, glaring at Alex.

"Very well.. It all started when..." She trailed off.

"Are you going to tell us?" Alex said.

"No. I'm going to show you." Sarah responded

"Show us? How?" Cody asked.

"Close your eyes." Marc said.

"Well, okay." Alex said. "_I just hope this isn't some kind of trap..."_

Everybody closed their eyes and waited for something to happen. Something did. They fell into a deep state of unconsciousness without even realizing it. They began to dream, with Sarah sending out a mental description to their subconscious of what was supposed to happen. It was recreated right in front of them, or so they thought.

_**FLASHBACK**_

_"Wha...what are you doing here? Who are you?" A little girl, about five years old, questions the stranger who is in the living room. Just then a small boy around the same age, maybe a few months older, walks in as well._

_"Who are you? Are you here to rob us? I can call servants!" The boy shouts._

_"No, no. I am merely here to explain your destiny." The strange old man says. He appears to be very old, at least 90 years, and holds a cane. A dense gray beard grows from his chin, and travels downward like wispy smoke_

_"Destiny? What are you rambling on about, old geezer?" The boy questions harshly._

_"You mean you don't know? Haven't you even the faintest idea?" He asks them._

_"No. We haven't noticed anything strange. Sure, we can communicate with thoughts, but we noticed nothing unusual about that. We figured all twins are able to do it." The girl told the old man._

_"Yes, all twins are, but only in their subconscious. You two are...different. You are destined. You are chosen." He replied._

_"Chosen? What are you talking about? You mean...like...we're special?" The young boy's eyes glitter with excitement as he soaks this in._

_"Yes, that's a nice way to put it. You two are special." He replied._

_"Didja hear that, Sarah? We're special twins!" The boy shouted with enthusiasm._

_"Yeah, but I don't wanna be special, Marc! I wanna be normal! I wanna be normal, like everybody else..." Sarah begins to cry._

_"She'll get over it, won't she, Marc?" The old man asks, almost tiredly. _

_"Yeah, she'll eventually get over it." Marc responds quietly, almost a whisper. "She's just tired."_

_"I'm not tired! Besides, bedtime isn't for another 3 hours!" She tells Marc._

_"Very well, then. I suppose I should tell you what your role is." The old man tells them quietly, in barely even a whisper. They can hardly hear him, and have to really strain._

_"You...two-" The old man coughs violently, "-have been chosen-" He has a violent coughing spell again. "- for the role of 'Guardian of Twins', the most sacred role of all. You must-" He coughs once again, even more violent than before. "-discover and strengthen your Earth and Psychic abilities."_

_The old man then kneels down, and falls over, laying flat against the stone floor. He isn't breathing._

_"Hello? Mister? Please wake up, mister? Mister?" Marc carefully picks up a stick, found on the old man's robes, and prods him with it gently._

_"MISTER! WAKE UP!" Marc yells, and then begins to cry as the scene fades out. "Please wake up...please...come on, Mister..."_

"_It's going to be okay, Marc. Don't worry..." Somebody starts to walk into the room as the scene fades to black._

"_Alright, dad. Goodnight."_

"_Goodnight, Marc." The scene then completely fades out._

_**END FLASHBACK**_

Alex, Zack, Cody, and Amy return to the conscious world, with the pain of that memory still fresh in their minds.

"I...I'm sorry. That must have been very traumatic to go through, especially at such a young age..." Amy says.

"I agree with her. That must have been...devastating, experiencing the death of a complete stranger in your own home." Alex replies.

"It was back then, but we're over it now. It is, however, hard to bring up that memory. We found these two pendants in his robe sealed in an envelope, along with a note. It was from our mother." She says, pulling the old and faded paper out of her pocket while gesturing to the pendants she and Marc wore around her neck. "Here, you read it. It is still...hard...to read it to myself."

"Umm...okay." Alex responds.

"Why'd you keep it? The note, I mean?" Zack asked.

"It was...the only thing we had of that night, except for the pendants. We kept the note, as well, so that we would always have proof. Proof that she still thought of us, proof that she loved us. Even as she was dying..." Marc said.

The group gathered around to read the note.

_To my dear children, Marc and Sarah:_

_If you currently cannot understand this note, keep it and read it in a few years time. You may understand it then. If you are reading this, I am most likely dead. If not, I will be in a few months. It doesn't matter, not with this illness. I am writing this note to let you know that what this man says is true. All of it. You two are destined to be the Guardians. You must discover, tame, and strengthen your Earth and Psychic abilities. These pendants will help you to do that_

_Your duty is to guard twins with special abilities. Twins like you, with abnormal powers. You will know when they are near, as you and they will be connected. Marc, you are entrusted with the elder of the two. Sarah, you are to guard the younger._

_Of note especially are the two twins I am about to describe to you. They are the companions of the fabled elementalist. They are, or at least will be, two male twins, the same age you are, with blonde hair, blue eyes. They are unique, in that they do not share the same power. The younger, Cody, has the power to shape the calm, collected element of water, and the elder, Zack, shall control the aggressive and powerful element of fire. This, however, is a special case. Marc, you are entrusted with the protection of Cody, and Sarah with Zack._

_I do hope that you are able to, one day, meet them and protect them. Tell your father that I wish him well._

_-Your mother, Sasha_

"The fact that you two are here now confirms that our mother was right." Sarah said.

"Well, then, I suppose you are to come with us then." Alex said.

"We have to, in order to satisfy our mother's last request." Marc said.

"Good. She would have wanted that." Cody responded.

"Well, then, does anybody have any clue about where to go now?" Alex asked

"No, none at all." Sarah responded.

"Not me." Marc said.

"So, what do you propose we do?" Alex asked the group.

"Umm...how about we just stay here? It's better than anything else...I think..." Zack suggested.

"Okay, then. We'll stay here for now. Maybe we'll think of something later on." Alex said.

"Who made you the leader?" Zack asked.

"Nobody. If you want to suggest something better, go right ahead. I'm not stopping you." Alex replied.

"I just wanted to make sure you weren't just calling the shots without being open to opinion. Or something..." Zack said.

"Well, you have your answer." Alex told him.

"So...how about we get to know each other better? Let's start with...you." Marc said, pointing at Amy.

"Well...alright. I'm fourteen, and have these powers...it's pretty cool, but sometimes sucks. That's all, really." She said.

"You seem to be hiding something." Marc said.

"I'm not. I swear." Amy replied.

"Very well. I'm Marc. Over there is my sister, Sarah. We, together, have powerful Earth abilities. Apart, however, we have to rely on our Psychic powers." Marc informed the group.

"Yeah...he said everything I was going to say." Sarah said.

"Umm...I'm Zack, that's my twin brother Cody." Zack said.

"They know that already!" Cody said, half shouting at his brother,

"Well, I don't know anything they wouldn't!" Zack replied, with just as much loudness in his voice.

"How about the time when we were three and you-"

"They don't need to know that!" Zack interrupted his brother quickly.

"We don't need to, but I sure am curious now." Alex said.

"I agree with him." Sarah said.

"Anyway, it's getting boring. I'm going to go check this place out, who's with me?" Cody asked.

"I am." Zack replied.

"Sure, why not?" Alex asked to nobody in particular.

"I'll see you guys later, I...need some time alone." Sarah said.

"Alright, then. See you later." Cody said.

They run off to explore the run-down castle as Sarah heads off somewhere deep within the castle to do whatever it is she needed to do.

Zack and Cody quickly found a hidden passage. It seemed dangerous, with something the couldn't quite make out written at the top.

"Should we go?" Cody asked.

"Of course!" Zack replied.

"I don't know...look up there." Alex pointed to the inscription.

_Ejp,rbrt fodvpbrtd yjr drvtryd joffrm eoyjom yjod sddshresu od vsiyopmrf. Yjru ;rsf pm;u yp frsyj smf frdytivyopm. --_ **(1)**

"What does it mean?" Cody asked.

"I'm not sure. It doesn't look very good, though. I'm sure if I had a computer, and possibly some internet, we could research it, and see if it can be decoded." Alex responded.

"Considering this is written on a whole other world, I highly doubt any form of internet could help us." Zack commented.

"Anybody could have figured that out! He was obviously being sarcastic. We don't have a computer anyway..." Cody said.

"Should we go down it or not? I vote yes." Zack said.

"Okay, we can go, but don't touch anything!" Alex said, putting a strong emphasis on 'anything'.

"Sweet!" Zack shouted as he rushed down the passageway. Cody, however, hesitated. Afraid to move, he stood, seemingly rooted to the ground.

"Anything wrong, Cody?" Alex asked.

"I've just...I've got a really bad feeling about this. A really, really bad feeling." He replied.

"Okay. Somebody has to go and keep Zack out of trouble, though. I guess I'll see you later, then." Alex said as he took off after Zack.

"Yeah. See you later" Cody called after him. "_Might as well try to find Sarah."_ He thought to himself, and set off to accomplish this new goal of his.

Sarah ran to the secret spot of hers. Underneath the hidden corridor, behind a revolving wall, and up in an enclosed cave on the side of the mountain, where the revolving wall led her. The front was covered in vines, hanging down from a tree, so that nobody could see it by just looking at the mountain cliff itself. She was the only one that knew about this place. She often came here to think, and when she didn't want to be disturbed. She began to think deeply.

"_I've wondered about many things in my life, but this deeply troubles me. What is this feeling I have for him? Is it love, or just because of our little connection that I feel this way about him? I'm not sure. I don't think I'll ever be. Even if it is love, I'm not sure how he feels about me. I won't tell him. Not yet, not when we've just met."_

"Are you okay?" A voice startled her out of her thoughts. She turned, to find the one person she thought she'd never see. At least, not all the way up here.

"Cody? What are you doing here?"

"Hey, I was just looking for you. I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" He inquired.

"No, not at all. Come sit down." Sarah motioned next to her.

"Alright." Cody sat down next to Sarah.

"How did you find this place, anyway?" Sarah asked.

"I guess I just...wandered here. Exploring, kind of. I was feeling along the wall for any hidden passageways, and kinda fell through. I broke the fall with my nose, too. Man, that hurt..." Cody said, rubbing his nose gently. By this time, Sarah was doubled over in laughter.

"I can imagine that! It must have been hilarious. From a bystander's point of view, I mean." Sarah said when she'd calmed down a bit.

"Yeah, I guess. It sure hurt like hell, though." Cody said, laughing as well now. They talked, and got to know each other a lot better.

"_Do I love him? It's all so confusing..."_ Sarah thought to herself.

"This note. It's so painful to keep around...yet I can't get rid of it." Sarah said, painful memories evident through her eyes.

"Why not?" Cody asked.

"My mother...I'd never met her. My father had only shown me a few pictures, but that was it. Then one day, he disappeared as well, leaving Marc and me all alone." Sarah told Cody, on the verge of tears.

"I'm...sorry...that must be really hard on you." Cody whispered, embracing her slightly. Sarah embraced him as well, her heart shouting something, and her mind denying it.

"_No, this...isn't right. I don't. I can't. Not...so soon. It's not true. It isn't. You know it is...just accept it. Accept it and move on! No...it's not true."_ Thoughts, conflicting each other, raged and battled throughout her head. Cody, meanwhile, was engaged in the exact same battle, his thoughts about Sarah the same.**(2)**

"So, you come here often?" Cody was once again sitting beside Sarah.

"Yeah. I thought nobody knew about this place, except for me."

"Now at least three people are going to know about it." He told her.

"Three? I thought it was only you and me that knew about it. Who else?" She asked him.

"If I found this place, my brother will find it too. You can be sure of that." He told her.

"Well, should we go back?" Cody asked her.

"Sure." She said. They headed back, and when they reached the place Alex and Zack headed down, Cody stopped her.

"Is anything...bad...down there?" Cody asked curiously, fearing for his brother.

"Yeah, very bad stuff. An old emperor is buried in his tomb back there, why?" She asked.

"Damn. I've gotta stop him, before anything bad happens." Cody said, drawing his sword and rushing down the passage.

"Cody...wait up!" Sarah said, rushing after him.

**DEEP WITHIN THE SECRET HALL**

Zack ran ahead of Alex, eager to explore this new territory.

"Hey, there's lots of cool stuff here. Check this out!" Zack said, touching the double-bladed sword with an ebony black blade, resting upon a statue's hand, and pulling it out, free of the statue's iron grip. A person, dressed in phantom white colors, fades into view in the center of the stone marked circle, criss-crossing in a zigzag pattern in the middle of the chamber.

"Who dares disturb my prized possession?" The figures asked, his transparent eyes blazing with anger. Alex walked in the room to be greeted with this sight.

"Zack, what did you do now?" He asked rhetorically.

"I didn't DO anything! Just pulled out this cool-looking sword...thingy."

"He has moved my prized possession from its resting place. For that, he must be punished."

"Um...was this yours? I'll put it back...sorry." Zack murmured.

"No, the damage has already been done. You must be cursed. You may take anything you wish, but...t"

Eyes rolling into the back of his head, the ghostly figure took on a possessed look, and stood rigid in a catatonic state. He disappeared, and blood red writing appeared on the wall.

_Yjr ,ptr upi yslr. yjr htrsyre upit ytpin;rd ;syrt pm/ -- _**(3)**

"What the heck's that supposed to mean?" Zack wondered.

Cody rushed into the room, with Sarah right behind him.

"Zack...what did you do now!" Cody shouted.

"I didn't DO anything! This weird guy came and said something...something something...I wasn't really listening." Zack mumbled. Sarah stood, overcome with fear, staring at the wall's writing.

"Zack, did you touch anything. I shouldn't even be asking that, of course you did."

"Hey, that guy said I could take whatever!" Zack said.

"He did, but then went on to curse you...or something like that." Alex said.

"Just...take what you want. But not too much." Sarah sighed.

"Really? Sweet! I'll take this thingy!" Zack said, waving around the sword he'd originally taken.

"I won't take anything. I'm not sure how this is going to affect anything, but I'm not risking it." Alex said.

"I agree with him. It's too risky. Besides, Zack needs to be cursed. It might teach him something." Cody smirked as he said this.

"Ye-Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Zack rhetorically asked.

"Can we just go?" Alex asked.

"Sure, we can show you around town!" Sarah said enthusiastically.

"Town? You mean there's more than this castle?" Cody asked.

"Of course!" Sarah said.

They head into town, where Sarah shows them everything. Marc was back at the castle, saying that he'd seen the town enough...so here they were. Amy had, strangely, disappeared. Sarah spotted a back alley she'd never noticed, and headed down it, Cody following her.

"Wow! Look at this! It looks so..." Sarah trailed off.

"Yeah, it does look like a very valuable necklace."

"Look at the price of it though...I could never afford it." She sighed.

"Here, I think...yeah, I've still got it!" He said, holding up what remained of his gold coins from Zeta. He had more than enough to purchase the item, and gave it to Sarah.

"Thanks! You don't know how much this means to me!" Sarah told him.

"Thank you for making that fine purchase. Perhaps now I'll be able to sell even more!" The shopkeeper spoke, joy evident in his blue eyes.

"Oh, thank you Cody!" Sarah said, as she hugged him in joy. Cody blushed.

"Umm...your welcome." Cody said.

"Come on, let's go!" Sarah said, pulling him along to speed back to the others.

"Yes...very nice." The shopkeeper said as his form began to change. After about thirty seconds, Kimitsu stood in place of the shopkeeper. "Very nice indeed. Our plan shall be in full swing soon. Are you ready, my young apprentice?"

"Yes, master. I shall not fail you." The apprentice spoke from the shadows, hiding.

"Very good. Once the guardians are out of the way, the elementalist will be easy to take care of." Kimitsu said, an evil smirk making its way across his face.

**_3/13/05: _Well, that's another chapter down. Kimitsu has an apprentice. Who is it? Why do you need to know now? Why do you care? Any guesses? Wait until a future chapter...now for the footnotes.**

**(1)**: If anybody can decode this, please tell me what you think it means. If you get it right...something good will happen to you...I just don't know what yet. You can give me some ideas.

HINT: Alex's dialog afterward could be a subtle hint...I guess it's not so subtle now...oh well.

**(2): **Awwww...yeah...will they ever find out? Maybe...maybe not...oh well. What do you think?

**(3):** See footnote **(1)**

**Hopefully I can get this up soon. If not, just know that it's not my fault! Somebody who shares my Internet server got a virus onto it! Blame them...It'll be up when they get that fixed. It could be tomorrow, or it could be next year. (if it is, I'll go crazy!) Now to work on the next chapter! I'm so bored...**

_**- ARK -**_


	13. Kidnapped

_A/N 3/13/05 **Yeah...this is the next chapter. I'm going to keep updating this. I can't really do the beginning until my Internet comes back, so I'll just update more. I hope you like the new chapters!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Everything else, mine. You know the drill, ask if you wish to use...blah blah blah.**_

_**On another note, I was WAY off with that last chapter's naming. I called it chapter 17, while it will end up being chapter 12...yea...just ignore the chapter number.**_

_**- ARK -**_

**Chapter 13: Kidnapped**

Sarah rushed back to the others, pulling Cody along like he was some kind a rag doll. He certainly was beginning to feel like one when they finally stopped, Sarah stopping quickly and forcing Cody to plunge headfirst into the fountain the group was standing beside.

"Finally. At least now I'm not the only one falling headfirst into stuff. Whoa!" Zack yelled as he lost his balance and fell backward into the fountain along with Cody. Sarah, laughing hysterically, proceeded to help Cody out.

"Hey, what about me!" Zack sputtered as he got out of the fountain, slipping on the rounded edge, and falling down on the ground.

"What about you?" Alex said.

"Good point..." Zack agreed.

"Look at what Cody bought for me! Isn't it beatuiful?"

"Yeah...I know why he bought it, too."

"Really? Why'd I buy it, then?" Cody asked his brother.

"'Cause you LOVE Sarah." Zack replied.

"What? I do not!"

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do to-OW! What'd you do that for!" Zack rubbed his head where Alex had struck him with the blunt end of his sword.

"Can we move on?" Alex asked harshly.

"Cody...loves my sister? Odd." Marc said, laughing at the twins' unlucky adventures a little bit ago.

"I do not!" Cody denied quickly.

"It's more than a little obvious that you two don't want each other to know." Alex said nonchalantly.

"Let's get something straight right now. We aren't in love. We never will be. Got it? Good." Sarah said, not giving Alex a chance to respond.

"I'm with Alex on this one." Marc and Zack said simultaneously.

"Fine. We know what we're feeling for each other, though, and it can be summed up in one simple word: NOTHING!" Cody shouts.

"Let's just go." Sarah said.

They wander out of the village, and to the run down castle, which many of the group considered a hide out.

"Well, we'd better get to sleep. I've got a bad feeling about tomorrow." Zack said as he headed off to bed.

"Yeah, goodnight everyone." Alex said as he retired to his room.**(1)**

They all drifted off into dreamless, constantly interrupted slumber. Cody woke up sometime late in the afternoon, and headed into Sarah's room assuming that she'd probably be awake by now.**(2)**

"Holy shit! Everyone, wake up right now! Sarah's gone!" Cody yelled.

"WHAT?" Marc shouted, and rushed into the room, with the rest of the gang in close pursuit.

"She's...gone." Cody repeats, on the verge of tears.

"We've got to find her. If my hypotheses is correct, then Kimitsu took her."

"Right. By the way, what's a hypotheysues?"

"It's hypotheses. It means hunch." Cody explained.

"And...what's hunch mean?"

"A...prediction." Cody decided.

"Oh, okay. Let's go, then. We've got to rescue Sarah." Zack shouted.

"One problem with that. We have no idea where she's being held." Alex said.

"I know where she is." Amy said, stepping into the room.

"You do? Where?" Cody hurriedly asked Amy.

"Look to the northwest, from where hilarious accidents began." Amy said, and walked out.

"I hate riddles." Marc commented.

"What's that mean?" Cody asked.

"Nevermind that, which way is northwest!" Zack yelled.

"If I'm right...ah, forget it, come on!" Alex yelled running out of the run-down building, with everyone else hurriedly following.

Alex reached the fountain and came to a halt, as did Marc and Cody.

"NOT AGAIN!" Zack yelled as he hit the edge of the fountain and was involuntarily flipped over the edge and into the water for the second time in two days.

"Look to the northwest." Alex said.

The group looks in different directions, trying to figure out just which way northwest is.

"I see it!" Zack cried. "Over there!" He pointed in the direction of the forest.

"Come on, let's go!" Marc yelled as he dashed off towards the forest. Cody and Alex followed, leaving Zack behind.

"HEY!" Zack yelled, climbing out of the fountain, his face meeting the ground yet again, and rushing to catch up with Cody, Marc, and Alex, ramming his way through numerous bystanders along the way.

**END OF CHAPTER 13**

**(1): Don't ask where they got their own rooms. If you do, it will be ignored, as I don't have an answer.**

**(2): No, he did not go in the room in only his boxers.**

_**Short, I know. But Marc wanted me to update, so here you go. The next chapter will more than make up for this, I swear. I'll bet he's really pissed at me now. Oh well.**_

_**In other news, my Internet is fixed for good.**_

_**- ARK -**_


	14. The Temple of Darkness

_A/N 3/16/05: **ZCIM 14. That's all I really have to say.**_

_**- ARK -**_

**Chapter 14: The Temple of Darkness**

The group rushed into the forest, Zack tripping over a tree root. Again.

"Why the hell do I always keep falling over things...I'm getting tired of it." He mumbled as he got back up and continued running. They finally reached the temple.

It was a majestic sight to behold, with an evil feeling about it. Two statues, carved with such realism that they seemed to be alive, guarded the front door. The five saw a hole in the wall near the top of the pyramid shaped temple, apparently dug to let air in or something.

"Are...we going to do something?" Amy asked.

"Let's go in through that hole. I don't like the sound of going in through the front door." Zack said.

"It'll be more fun that way too! Come on!" Alex said as he raced for the pyramid and began to climb, using the small indents between layers of brick, straw, stone, and mud for footholds. Cody was the second one to break free from his trance-like state and rushed over, followed by Marc, and then Zack. Amy, becoming quite bored with watching them, headed in through the unlocked front door.

**A FEW HOURS EARLIER**

"Now all we must do is get the boy." Kimitsu said to his young apprentice. "Yes master. I shall do the same to him as I did with the girl." The apprentice spoke, again from the shadows, not wanting to reveal its identity just yet. "Don't you dare lay a hand on Marc, you traitor! I should never have trusted you!" Sarah screamed. "Ah, but you did, and there is your ultimate weakness. Your friends don't know, and you can do nothing to help them." "You should really learn to keep your mouth shut." Kimitsu said coldly as he exerted more power on her. "No...no...AGH!" Sarah screamed as the dark, deperessing feelings of loneliness, pain, and immense fear bore down upon her emotions with the speed of the rushing wind of a hurricane.

oooooo

The group climbs to the hole near the top.

"Don't look down, don't look down..." Cody repeats to himself.

"Look down! It's awesome!" Marc yelled. Cody looked down.

"AH!" He screamed and let go of the bricks in complete shock. He began to fall, slowly, to his death below. Time seemed to stop as his life flashed before his eyes, one moment at a time. Suddenly a vine wrapped around his waist, nearly suffocating him. He looked up, and the vine seemed to be growing out of Marc's hand. He blacked out, and when he awoke, he was sitting on the roof of the temple, next to the gaping hole.

"What...how did I get here?"

"You blacked out for about an hour." Zack said.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get Sarah before anything bad can happen!" Cody shouted, jumping up and rushing to the hole.

"You first!" He said, pushing Zack in. Zack fell, and hit the ground.

"OW! I tink I borke by doze." He shouted up after he had peeled his body painfully off of the cold stone ground. Marc, Cody, and Alex weren't far behind him, gracefully landing on the floor.

"I could've done that...if I hadn't been pushed." Zack said.

"Whatever, let's just split up and find Sarah. Marc, you and Cody head that way, and Alex and I will head this way." Zack said, motioning to a corridor that led off in the opposite direction of another.

"Ok." Marc said. They each take a corridor, and rush down it, in hopes of finding Sarah.

XxX

**Did you like this chapter? Please review, and again, sorry about the shortness. Next chapter might not be up for a while because of school. I wish summer would get here faster!**

**- ARK -**


	15. Awakening Hidera

_A/N _**3/26/06:_ ZCIM 15. Thanks to all my reviewers, and I think I've solved the problem of why some people haven't been able to review! I recently deleted some chapters from the beginning, and when I upload what would have been Chapter 16 or something became Chapter 12; however, you have already reviewed Chapter 12, it just got bumped down to chapter 8 or something._**

_**If that is confusing...it should clear up by around Chapter 17 or so. Then the reviewing thing will be back to normal.**_

_** ARK **_

_ZCIM 15: _

Marc and Cody scrambled down the endless hallway, desperate to get to Sarah before anything bad happened. What seemed like hours later, they flew straight into a big room. Sarah was sitting in a pod, filled with some kind of blue breathable fluid...she was breathing in and out...the fluid rushing in and out of her. Changes were happening right before their eyes. Her shirt and miniskirt became crimson red, while two red and seemingly metallic blades grew out of her forearm and stretched down two inches past her palm.

"SARAH!" Cody shouted as he ran towards her. Kimitsu appeared at the west end of the room, and began activating some form of control panel. Nobody in the room noticed; however, as the only two who were able to stop him were concentrated on Sarah.

Cody ran forward, and began hacking and slashing furiously at the pod. Sarah looked like some kind of alien, being put in one of those tubes to be studied by a bunch of scientists. He had to free her; he had to save her from this nightmare. If he could just make a cut in the pod, she would wake up and be free from the horror.

"Nothing you do now will be able to save her, Cody. She is too far gone." Kimitsu finally spoke.

"Wha-no. No! I won't believe you! She can still be saved!" Cody shouted at the shape shifter.

"Not now. If you had come, say, six hours earlier, she might have had a slim chance. Not now, when the virus has been implanted in her body for so long. It is already beginning to morph the body. The brain, by now, has been taken over completely. You can do nothing." Kimitsu said. A small bleeping noise was emitted from the console, and the words _'Transformation Complete.'_ flashed across the previously blank light blue screen.

The pod began to drain, the blue liquid seeping into the little holes at the bottom of the pod ever so slowly and silently. It was finally fully drained, and the computer let out another bleep.

_'Drainage Complete'_

"Activate life form in console #234FO21."The computer responded to his command with yet another bleeping noise.

_'Identification required.'_

Kimitsu placed his hand on the panel. The console began to scan it, and yet another bleep sounded.

_'Identification complete. Processing request.'_

Sarah began to open, blinking her eyes and letting them adjust to the light.

"SARAH!" Cody yelled, rushing toward her. Marc pulled him back, sensing that something was wrong.

"Marc, what are you doing?" Cody asked.

"That...thing...isn't Sarah. It's something far worse. I can feel it." Marc said, his head filled with questions.

"He's right...I'm not who I was before, Cody." Sarah responded.

"Who are you, and hat have you done with my sister?" Marc asked, wanting some serious revenge on Kimitsu right now.

"I have done nothing with her except make her stronger, faster, more powerful, and most importantly, under my control."

"I am in no way under this lowlife's control. I control myself, for I am all powerful! I am 38.2 more powerful than Kimitsu!" Sarah shouted.

"And...how exactly did you get that number?" Alex asked.

"I made it up!" Sarah shouted.**(1)**

"Okay...whatever. Time to kick your ass." Cody shouted as he ran forward, slashing like mad. Sarah easily countered by swinging her fist up and knocking the sword out of Cody's hands, and then struck him with the palm of her hand. Cody flew against the opposite wall, his head striking the cold stone with a sharp crack. He blacked out, wondering what the hell had gotten into Sarah.

_'Why is she acting so strange...so...evil. It's almost as if she's being possessed.'_

Marc stood facing Sarah.

"Sarah, what are you doing!" Marc shouted. "Don't be like this. You have to fight it!"

"Sarah can do nothing except watch in horror as she destroys those that she loves. I am in complete control of her body, and her mind." Sarah said.

"Who...are you?" Marc asked.

"You ask my name? You stand in my temple, and yet you ask my name?" Sarah sarcastically asked Marc.

"Yea, I kinda don't know who all is buried here and what not...so what's your name" Marc asked.

"My name is Hidera." Sarah/Hidera answered.

"Alright, fine. Hidera, you die now!" Marc shouted.

"I wouldn't do that...unless you want your beloved sister to die as well." Hidera responded.

"I can beat you out of her!" Marc shouted as he sent a psychic blast towards her. Hidera responded by rushing forward, shrugging off the powerful attack as if it was nothing. Hidera stabbed Marc in the stomach, watching in delight as his movements slowed down from the blood loss, and he eventually fainted.

"Good. Now phase two of our plan can be completed. Once we awaken the other two spirits, and link them with these two, we shall be unstoppable." Kimitsu gleefully said.

"I am on your side...for now. But once you accomplish your goal, I'll crush you like the insignificant speck you are." Hidera coldly answered him.

"We'll just see about that when the time comes, now won't we?" Kimitsu asked.

"Indeed we shall." Hidera answered.

**END CHAPTER 15**

_**(1): I had to do it.**_

_**I hope you liked the chapter. Thanks goes to YoungCloud and most likely a few others as well for pointing out why the review system is screwed up. That will be back to normal eventually. On another note, I think this fic is finally coming to an end. It's Magic? Part II will be up after that.**_

_**PLEASE REVIEW! (if possible)**_

_** ARK **_


	16. Subconcious Reality

**A/N _4/15/06:_ Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but it's not my fault! My internet got taken away, and I have to sneak on to write this. It was only one F, and they take away my internet access! I'm sure tons of people out there do much worse…oh well. The point is, I won't be updating very frequently for some time. Here's the next chapter. Expect updates to be nonexistent for the next four to nine weeks or so…maybe not…but still.**

**I'm sneaking on the computer to type this because I love all my reviewers! So please review!**

**_5/20/06: _School gets out in 2 weeks and 1 day, with my grades being pulled up a lot! I'll have more free time to work on this, and should have the next chapter up soon. Oh well, Please review! I worked hard on this chapter!**

**- ARK -**

ZCIM 16: Subconscious Reality POV: Sarah 

I tried desperately to regain control of my own body, but it was a useless attempt. I had no control of anything...I was only able to watch in horror, as if it were some kind of a movie. I watched helplessly as my arms, being controlled by someone…something…else, as they struck down first my twin, and then Cody. I watched as they were shoved into some sort of glass tube, which was filled suddenly with a blue liquid. I began to wonder if this is what had happened to me after I was captured. The demon, Kimitsu, pressed some buttons, and the blue liquid drained only to be replaced with a green gas that seeped into Marc and Cody's bodies through their pores. The glass then fell away and the gases, seeming to have a life of their own, took hold of Marc and Cody's minds.

POV: Cody 

I was suddenly thrust awake, my eyes wandering around the room. I meant to step off of the pedestal I was standing on, but found that I couldn't no matter how hard I tried. My legs just refused to budge. They then moved off of the pedestal all on their own. Confused, I soon found out that I had no control of my body whatsoever. All I could do was hear, see, and think. I then heard a thought, one which was clearly not my own.

'_Cody, can you hear me?'_

I wondered who that was, and why it had come to me in the form of a thought, instead of a voice.

'_It's called "thought-speaking". It's the only way we can communicate right now.'_

Whoa! Did that person, whoever it was, just read my mind?

'Yes. You speak with your mind now, Cody. Be careful what you think now, it is voiced to anyone who is listening.'

'Ok,' I thought, 'so who exactly is listening?'

'Marc is, and then there's me. There could be others.'

'Going by that, I'd say you are Sarah.' I thought.

'Yes, I'm Sarah…' 

'So…is there any way we can break free of this…whatever this is?' I wondered.

'**I don't think so. We've never been in a situation like this.'**

'I'm guessing that would be Marc.'

'**You would be correct.'** Marc responded.

'So, if there is no way to get out of this, are we just stuck here forever?' I asked.

'_I guess so, but there has to be some way we can get rid of whatever has a hold on us.'_ Sarah responded.

'You are in a state of subconsciousness.'

'Who the hell are you?' I asked.

'That is not important.'

'What exactly is going on here?' I asked.

'You are being held prisoner by your own mind, which is controlled now by some other being.'

'And…how do I get rid of this other being?' I asked.

'There is no way that has yet been discovered. All anybody can do now is wait.'

'But I need to get out!' I asked. There was no answer.

'Hello!' I called out. Once more, there was no answer. I sighed, and went back to focusing on what my body was doing.

_**xXxXx**_

POV: Alex 

I rushed down the corridor, hoping to find Kimitsu and end this…whatever _this_ was. I rounded the corner and found Amy standing there.

"Amy! Did you find them?" I called out. Amy turned, and I realized that she had indeed found my friends. Now; however, I was wishing she had not done so.

Her pupils glowed ruby red, with her hands glowing with an aura of the exact same color. Black shirt and pants covered her body, with red spirals traveling from her shoulders down to her feet. Her hair was in a ponytail, held that way by a sapphire brooch, which ended near the middle of her back.

"Yes. I have found them. They now serve me." She smirked.

"Are you crazy? That would never happen! They'd never let you do that!" I shouted.

"No, I suppose they wouldn't. However, when they are possessed, it's a different story." Amy said, still calm as ever.

"You…you…I'll KILL you!" I said, transforming and taking on my darker appearance. As he rushed toward Amy, she snapped her fingers, and I grew weaker and weaker. Eventually, I fell to the ground unconscious, unable to reach Amy.

_**xXxXx**_

POV: Third Person 

Alex awoke to find himself stepping off of a pedestal. He had no idea what it did, and instantly realized that he was not controlling his body. Unable to find any means of doing so, he sat there and watched himself, listened to himself, and screamed for help as loud as he could. Nobody seemed to be able to hear him.

'Why can't anybody hear me! HELLO! I need to get out of this nightmare…please…somebody help me…' Alex screamed, though he was only thinking in reality.

'What do you need help with?' A voice softly spoke. Alex heard.

'Please…I need out.' Alex responded.

'Out? Good luck with that. There is no known way to get out of here.'

'Who are you, anyway?' Alex asked.

'That isn't important, and will be revealed to you later; however, now you need to find a way out. You must do what has never been done before.' The voice spoke. An image appeared to Alex's right. He turned to look directly at it. What he saw was a person. A person that seemed vaguely familiar.

'Where have I seen him before? It feels like I should know him…but I don't. Why do I feel as if I've met him somewhere?'

His blond hair fell down almost to his shoulders, about an inch higher then them. He was wearing a navy blue shirt, and some teal colored shorts with various zippers and pockets on them. He was a little on the short side, Alex assumed he was around five feet tall. **_(A/N: Yes, you've seen him mentioned before in this fic. Any guesses as to who he resembles?)_**

Alex became exhausted quickly, and sat down, time whirring quickly around him as he recovered in what he assumed to be a form of sleep.

_**xXxXx**_

POV: Zack 

I stumbled along the corridor mindlessly, desperately trying to find my way towards any form of life. I had gotten separated from Alex, and quickly realized I was lost as of about 2 hours ago. I was placing one foot in front of the other, often running into walls. Suddenly, I was falling. I wasn't exactly sure how it happened, but it did. Down, down…farther and farther. I closed my eyes and waited for the impact of my body crushing down onto the ground. I stopped, yet felt no pain. It was as if I had landed on a floor made of cotton. I slowly opened my eyes to find darkness. But, really, what had I been expecting? Some far away happy-land with cute pink fluffy bunnies? I shuddered at the thought of it…made me sick. I hated those types of places. I stood up, which was weird considering I couldn't even see the ground I Was standing on…if there was any. I felt like I could fall at any moment…Suddenly, a light, or a bubble, or something engulfed me. All I could remember was that it was blue…I can't even recall the shade of blue it was…only blue. Sad, isn't it? I closed my eyes, not knowing what could possibly happen next.

"Dude, you can stand up now." A voice told me. It was a comforting sound, to hear somebody talking. I felt as if I had been sleeping for years.

"How…long was I out?" I asked.

"Around two minutes…" The voice responded.

"Unngh…" I moan as I slowly get up. "Where…am I?"

"You are in the city of Dgineru." The voice again responded.

"Ok…who are you?" I asked.

"Who do you think I am?" It responded. I opened my eyes to see myself lying in a room, almost like a hospital room. It looked…futuristic. It was really cool. I turned to look at whoever was speaking to me. His blond hair fell down almost to his shoulders, about an inch higher then them. He was wearing a navy blue shirt, and some teal colored shorts with various zippers and pockets on them. **_(A/N: Sounds familiar, doesn't it?)_**

"Who…are you?" I asked.

"I guess you wouldn't know me." He responded. "My name is Njembura. I was born in this city. I've lived here all my life. It gets pretty boring, you know?"

"Njembura…I'm Zack." I replied.

"Come on, I'll show you around!" Njembura said, taking my hand and dashing out the…door? It sure as hell didn't look like a door; it looked like a damn wall. But I fell straight through it, so…I'm not sure what to think. We started off, and another boy that looked similar to Njembura limped up to him. He seemed to have a severe injury to his leg, and as he got closer, it seemed to have been bitten by something.

"Njembura! We've got a problem!" He panted.

"What is it, Kileo?" Njembura asked

"Zombie…breach…in the East Vembran sector." Kileo then limped off to the hospital.

"Aw, crap! Looks like you get to fight now, kid." Njembura told me.

"Fight…zombies?" I asked.

"Yea, what did you think you were fighting, mutant headless chickens? Now, take this." Njembura chucked a pistol at me "Latest technological advance in guns. Completely computer controlled. You'll need it."

"Um…thanks?" I responded.

"Good, now come on!" Njembura yelled, grabbing my arm and rushing off towards what I assumed to be this Vembrain **(1)** sector

XxXxXxX End of Chapter 16 XxXxXxX 

**_5/21/06: _**Zombies…common, I know, but still. Now time for some long overdue pronunciations!

**(1)**: Spelled wrong on purpose. Just in case somebody actually notices.

Njembura: (N-gem-bu-rah)

Vembran: (Vem-brawn)

Kileo: (Key-lee-oh)

Dgineru: (Gen-e-roo)

Please review! Next chapter should be up hopefully a lot sooner then this. Yes, it is short considering the amount of time I worked on it, but I **was** completely forbid access to the computer. I also had a lot of schoolwork to catch up on. The point is, updates should be coming sooner now. That's good, right?

_**- ARK -**_


	17. Currently Without A Name

**I am, like, really sorry. I mean REALLY sorry about not updating…I haven't had much time to work on this, and I doubt I will in the future…so don't expect any updates for a while. I will finish this, so an update will definitely come. It just won't come for a while, with school starting (So soon, too. Only 5 weeks. Feels like summer just got here…) and our family going on vacation and all that stuff. So…yea…sorry in advance for that. Hopefully people haven't forgot about this…**

DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, or any characters I may put from there in here. I own everything else though…I think. Oh yea, all the gun stuff was found on the internet…I forget where, though.

**-+ARK+-**

XxXxX- Chapter 17: Currently Without a Name-XxXxX POV: Zack 

I was drug down the city streets like a rag doll, being pulled along by Njembura and barely keeping hold of my new pistol…like…thing. It certainly _looked_ like a pistol, but I wasn't quite sure what it was. It could be anything, for all I knew. I didn't really have any time to think; however, as I was stopped and suddenly jerked backward about a foot.

"You know, it's pretty painful being drug around like a rag doll. But I gotta admit, it's also pretty fun!" I sarcastically pointed out.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that. I kinda…forgot about you." Njembura replied. I looked at him for a minute, wondering how the hell he could forget that he was dragging somebody across the ground, but my thoughts were stopped dead as a stench much like meat that was left out in immense heat for over a year and skunk spray combined hit my nose. **(1)**

"They're here." Njembura said.

"I think I could have figured that out." I replied, the stench nearly forcing me to gag. I pulled out my pistol looking thing.

"Let's see what this does." I said, pointing it at the masses of rotting flesh and decayed bone dragging their feet towards me. As I fired, the zombies seemed unfazed. I wondered what effect this could have; however, Njembura was firing like mad, pounding the zombie-like creatures with lead.

"This is the best part of living here…die you ugly freaks!" He shouted as he fired two of the same type of pistols at the zombies, one in each hand.

I unsteadily fired my pistol at the…things. They seemed endless, and as they were shot down, they just stood right back up.

"Is there any end to this?" I asked.

"End? Are you nuts? Of course not! They'll eventually give up and go away." Njembura replied.

I suddenly…I couldn't really explain it. I felt something right behind me. A chill ran through my entire body, and I could just…feel it.

"Oh crap…" I moaned in fear as I turned around to face the mass of decayed skin and hair, half-rotten bones, and a broken skull with the brain showing through. I backed away into a corner, which I soon realized was a bad idea. The zombie approached steadily. I think it was going to bite me, but I wasn't really sure. I sank to the ground, my legs becoming limp from fear, and my nose becoming overwhelmed from the stench. It was becoming hard to breathe, impossible to breathe. If I didn't die from the zombie biting off my flesh, I would surely die from the stench of the whole ordeal.

Suddenly a bullet ripped through its head, shattering the skull and embedding itself into the wall directly above me. Any lower and it would have hit my head, killing me as well. The zombie fell to the ground, and didn't move.

"What…was…that?" I asked, slowly getting up and staring at the brick wall, which had a hole that seemed about 1 inch in diameter in it now among the various graffiti and messages that covered it.

"You can thank Kileo for that. He's an awesome sniper…plus he's got some new weapon that's really top secret…he wouldn't even tell me. I'll see if he will show it to you later, but right now we've got a problem." Njembura said.

"P-Problem? What now?" I asked.

"Them." He said, pointing at the horde of zombies down the street about a block away. or some odd reason, they had bright yellow jackets on. It was pretty weird…

"Oh." I replied, clutching my pistol in fear.

"That thing isn't gonna work on these guys, they're dead survivors, still wearing the suits they give you when you serve in the military. Your pistol bullets aren't able to pierce the armor. I never could figure out why that feature was implemented, but whatever, take this instead." Njembura said, throwing what looked to be an M16 at me. However, the barrel was a lot shorter, it seemed to be embedded in the gun, and it was pitch black in color. It also looked cooler.

"What the hell is this?" I asked.

"We call it the Tabor. It fires faster and with more precision than those crappy M16s we did away with about 15 or 20 years ago. It's also got a smaller length, which makes it good for urban warfare like this. I'll tell you more later, we've gotta get these guys out of here right now." Njembura said. The zombie horde had closed in on and surrounded us, advancing and coming closer by the second. We were trapped.

"Ok, then, what are we waiting for? Let's pump these bastards full of lead!"

"I like your style, kid." Njembura replied as he began it hold down the trigger of his rifle…like…thing, raining bullets upon the zombies.

"That looks fun. Let me try." I said, as I too held down the trigger, producing an army of bullets myself.

Within minutes, the zombies were completely pumped full of lead or whatever they made these bullets out of. Sweet. Most were lying on the ground unconscious, if not dead…erm…deader. I knelt down to one zombie that was lying on the ground, with all it's limbs attached. They were just…mushy. Disgusting. I pressed my gun against its skull and pulled the trigger. The rotten bone exploded** (2)**, sending fragments flying everywhere and splattering its pathetic excuse of mush that half resembled a brain everywhere in little bits and pieces. Again, disgusting. Yet oddly satisfying.

"I doubt he'll be getting up after that." I said, lowering my weapon down to my side.

"Probably not. Let's leave before we find out." Njembura said as we began walking back to the hospital. The zombies had been able to claw numerous cuts and gashes into both of us, and we were in desperate need of medical attention.

When we finally arrived at the hospital, Kileo was waiting for us there. It was now that I got a good look at him. He had blonde hair like Njembura, and was around the same height as him as well. They looked like brothers. He wore khaki colored shorts, and a gray shirt

"Holy crap, man, what happened to you?" Kileo exclaimed.

"I never knew how violent dead bodies could be…" I replied.

"He made one explode at the end, it was awesome! Now can you please get us healed, I've got something I wanna ask you." Njembura requested.

"Fine, come on over here." Kileo replied. Njembura and I followed him to a room containing two pod-like structures. Njembura stepped into one, and I mimicked him.

"Ok, now stand still." Kileo instructed. He pressed some buttons on a high-tech looking console, and a near-violet light engulfed me. I felt like time was going on high-speed, as if I was flying at a hundred miles an hour. The feeling of elation suddenly stopped, and the light faded away. I felt refreshed, and looked at my legs. They seemed perfectly fine, the cuts and gashes completely gone.

"Damn, that light is bright." I said, blinking and squinting as I stepped out of the pod.

"Now, what were you wanting to ask me?" Kileo asked Njembura.

"Oh yea, I was wondering if you could show us some of that high-tech stuff you keep talking about. I'm sure this guy here would be interested in them, and you haven't even showed them to me…so could we see them?" Njembura asked.

"Sure. Hey, Zack, do you want to see them?" Kileo asked.

"Sure, but I have two questions first." I replied.

"Ask away." Kileo replied.

"One, are these destructive, and two, do they work?"

"Yes. To both questions." Kileo replied.

"Sweet." I said.

"Ok, then, let's go." Kileo said, and started down a hallway. Njembura and I followed along through the twists and turns he made. I wondered how big this hospital really was, each hallway was lined with doors, and each door seemed to open up into yet another hallway, lined with doors as well. After about ten minutes of this, Kileo opened up a door that us led into a vast room. Teams of scientists huddled over various blueprints and machine parts.

"The design room. This is where our team of designers and builders do their work. Nothing much to see here, so let's head over this way." Kileo said, walking off to a door on the right. We followed him through it. Inside was a warehouse type room, filled with all kind of destructive looking weapons. It was, in my opinion, pretty sweet.

"Wow." That was it. That was all I was able to say.

"This here," he said, pointing to a short sniper rifle looking gun "We call the XM-107. It is capable of firing .50 caliber rounds. This kills you…and everyone in the room. Well, that's it."

"That's all?" I asked in surprise.

"Pfff…no. This over here…it's a high-tech pistol. We've stopped production ever since we started developing the other one…" Kileo said.

"Can we see the other one?" Njembura asked. "Pleeeeeeeeeease?"

"No." Kileo responded.

"Whyyyyyyy noooooooooot?" He whined.

"Because I said so, now let's get back. This guy needs to get back to the other side."

"Fine."

We walked back through the hallway. I swear, that thing was a mile and a half long…it seemed really easy to get lost in there. I wondered how those technicians and scientists found their way around…we were back.

"Now, step on the teleportation device."

"Say wha?" I asked, confused.

"The blue pad thing." Njembura sighed.

"Oh." I stepped on the blue pad thing. It felt…soft. Really soft…like 16 bags of cotton balls…a red light**(3)** encased me, which I found odd. It was blue before…that was my last thought before falling asleep.

"Get him out of here."

"Do you thin he'll remember?"

"Nah…we left him with nothing. There's no possible way he'll remember us, even when he sees our counterparts on the other side."

"You mean…Patrick and Daniel.**(4)**"

"Yes…"

XxXxXxX 

Finally done! I was going to ask if anybody had any ideas for the chapter name, but I like it…so it's going to stay.

**(1): I've smelled this before. Found it in my grandmother's old farmhouse basement. Not pretty. I think it was there for at least 20 years…that's when they moved, at any rate. 1986. Not fun…**

**(2): This actually will happen with a shotgun. The pellets will punch a hole in the skull, and if the barrel is pressed against it, gases from the gunfire will build up pressure in the skull, and then…yea…big explosion. Bet you didn't really want to know that. Well…I've just got one piece of advice: _DON'T try it._**

**(3): They have lots of different colors here…blue, violet, red…oh well.**

**(4): I mentioned one of these two. At least, I think I did. Can anyone remember where?**


End file.
